Edward of Amber; Crown Prince of the Kingdom, the sole legitimate male heir apparent, and unarguably one of the most talented of his age group; has for the first day of his life experienced the taste of dirt.

Let's brush aside the stereotypes and the cliches of a male aristocrat on the top of his society. Edward was a special case even for male aristocrats which is, of course, aside from being the Prince. He was a Prince who earned his position even though he acted like a complete retard most of the time. He wasn't wise, he wasn't smart either, but he had that one person who drove him forward.

His mother.

Almost a similar story to someone we know but that wasn't really the case. Edward was also a child like any other child who vied for the attention of his parents and being a single child, that wasn't supposed to be difficult.

But it certainly was.

He was the son of the second queen, a woman whose origins were still incomparable to the first queen. He watched his mother agonize over the fact that she is lacking in comparison to the First Queen and her daughter, the Elder Princess.

The Second Queen was not only a beauty that could rarely be seen but she came from the Empire of Amarose, the strongest nation under the sun. On the other hand, the First Queen came from the Fayruz Sultanate which was not only an enemy to the Empire but a nation of heretics who rejected the Light. Still, the First Queen was essentially a Princess, she was just an imperial Court Lady who got gifted to the King of Amber as a concubine and with her cunning, she became a Queen.

But then the First Queen died, it wasn't the fault of the Second Queen as far as everyone is aware but all fingers pointed towards her. Still, if not for her connections, things would have gotten ugly. Even the King became distant from her, never appointed her as the First Queen, and left the spot vacant. Even though her son became the Crown Prince, things would still look bad for him and with the king fooling around with the other concubines, it was all just a matter of time.

From one ugly scheme to another. The second Queen did everything she could to prevent the emergence of another heir. She did maddening things and sinful acts just to protect what she holds dear.

But someone was watching, her son Edward.

Everything she did, every sin she made, every treachery she schemed, he was there either by coincidence or by anticipating his mother's movements.

For the young Edward, it wasn't right but there's nothing he can do if it is his mother. He can blame whoever he can blame but one truth remains, his mother needs him to be crowned and he needs to spread his influence, dominate, and never step back… ever.

For the child Edward, it was through working hard and proving himself worthy. For the teenager Edward, it was through spreading his power and influence by connecting all the nobles to him with any means necessary.

As he grew, the idea of using whatever he could to achieve whatever goal he's after became more appealing to him and slowly, Aims justified the Means no matter what the means are.

This childhood was on its way for the making of a good politician, not really a good king or even a good man but at least someone who can rule a country for a few years. Someone who would stand against the other countries without hesitation… blah blah blah.

But that smooth ride to power filled with dominating the future heads of the aristocratic factions and sleeping with all their future spouses had its first reality check.

Dirt in his mouth, fist in his guts, and cracks on his pride.

When the implosion happened, the Prince fainted for a few seconds. When he regained his head and looked up, he could see Lady Fern Greene, his magic instructor, kneeling with a bloody hand just right next to him looking with a pale face at something that scared the living ghost out of her.

Edward felt the rough ground against his torso thus he pushed himself up in a feeling of discomfort with the sensation and was about to call the Lady but he finally noticed what she was looking at and it was like a metal bar hitting his head diagonally.

One thing can be said about heads attached to trees by javelins but that head felt oddly familiar. And if it is not his Combat Instructor, Sir Winthrop?

"Right, the Assassin!"

He just looked ahead and saw the darkness still stands with the man enveloped with it putting something away. He looked at Edward and Fern with the eyes behind his mask showing a fearful killing intent.

"Edward." Lady Fern spoke.

"Master!"

"Another attachment is coming from the south. They won't be here in time." She said she turned towards him, "When I say run…"

She slowly stood up and focused on Leon in front of her.

"RUN!!!"

And with everything she got, Fern raised her Magic to an astronomical gush of Arcane force which tore through the Earth between her and Leon and launched everything she could left.

With such massive Mana, Leon couldn't celebrate his level-ups for a second let alone check out which skills leveled up as well.

"You! Will! Face! Me!"

"Piss off, you crazy woman!"

While Lady Fern conjured more and more spells to strike at Leon, he was just bouncing off one place to another. However, the Lady Mage was fighting as if she had infinite Mana to spare.

"Earthen Smite! Air Lock! Stone Strike! Rising Roots!"

Leon was truly good at evading and he utilized Combat Magic effectively as well as every defensive spell he knows to survive the endless barrage of Magic. He may have managed to kill the Knight through trickery and traps but that was on the consequence of getting this woman to go berserk with Magic. She is not even giving him the chance to do anything but to keep moving around until she hit him.

Most people don't really utilize the Earth Magic for attack if they can afford another but Earth Magic has the mass which can reject the effects of both the Light and the Shadow elements. Even though they would win in the end, no mage would want to stand against flying stones and boulders.

Leon noticed what was going on. That woman was not only going wild but also buying time. Whether it was for Edward to escape or for reinforcement to arrive, it didn't seem like any of the two would be good news for him.

Something was off about him though. Although he was free from the influence of the ring, he felt like the Ring was trying to direct his attention on something. Since the start, Leon was instinctively targeting Edward.

The Ring wanted something to do with Edward… something it needs.

Leon's eyes narrowed as he could no longer let Edward escape and kept trying to evade but that wasn't in any way possible.

"Piss off!" He threw a knife at the Mage but she evaded it and kept launching big spells and kept trying to bind him with roots and magic.

Edward seemed to be finally moving through, he held his sword and turned around trying to run behind the students that already escaped. As Leon saw that, he clicked his tongue and went on a desperate attempt to catch the Prince.

Leon hid behind a large boulder which wasn't a wise choice since Lady Fern was an Earth Mage as well as a Life Mage. The roots and the Earth nearby started to target Leon but he used that opportunity to call the Darkness from the shadows nearby and made it into a cloud. He immediately sent that cloud from one side to the boulder towards the Mage Lady and ran off from the other side to mislead her.

Leon would usually utilize the cloud to conceal himself thus she would naturally target it and that was the case. In the first few steps, Leon was successful to rush through and close in on the Prince.

"YOU!"

Still, the Lady Mage caught on to the trick quickly and with a powerful force of air, she sent a strong gust towards Leon which hit him directly.

"YOU WON'T ESCAPE!" Leon shouted as he was desperate as well.

During that attempt and when he realized that he was going to fail, Leon did his move before getting hit. He immediately threw something towards the Prince.

Edward heard Leon and for a split of a second there, he recognized that voice he felt oddly familiar alongside the figure. But just as his attention derailed, he could see a bottle flying by with a silvery liquid and a burning rag on its top. The bottle landed in front of him and shattered, spreading its content, which started burning, like crazy.

"No! HELP!"

Edward was caught up in the fire, he who always used his overpowered Fire Magic to trample over his opponents was now having a taste of his own medicine.

"Bastard!" Lady Fern couldn't believe the fact that she couldn't protect the Prince but almost immediately, she pulled the necklace around her neck, shattered the gem, and threw it towards Prince Edward.

Immediately, the Gem changed into a large tide of water that completely soaked the Prince and suppressed the fire.

Just as she did that, she could finally see that Edward didn't suffer any major wounds but he seemed to have been in a bad spot just now. She had no time to check on him, however, as Leon was just behind her with his knife aiming for her throat.

"Impudent!"

She immediately turned around in a blind rage and with his strongest Magic, she launched a powerful Magic Bolt towards him with the intent of finishing off Leon for good.

Leon could barely use Darkness to nullify the spell but it already cost him most of his Mana as he was mostly exhausted. His hope to catch Edward died away and all he can do now is to escape before something… happens.

Something happened…

Leon could see it but Edward couldn't as well as Lady Fern and it was something spectacular. Leon immediately let himself fly away and got his distance before preparing.

Amidst the trees where Edward was running off towards, a pair of eyes stacked the Prince. Those eyes carried some unnatural amount of anger which was directed towards Edward. After all, it was Edward that destroyed the home of whatever that is just the other night. It happened when Pearl asked the Prince to burn a few trees.

And so on all four, the owner of those angry eyes rushed forward and silently rammed into the Prince.

Then with no introductions, Edward found himself being lifted from the ground with some sharp objects digging through his lower parts. He didn't know what exactly happened but he could feel that the family heirloom between his legs was in imminent danger. His hands interlocked together in front of the treasure mine and one shake after another, he felt his body going up and down with him losing control for the most part.

"YOUR HIGHNESS!"

Lady Fern no longer paid attention to Leon and rushed towards the Prince in a pickle but this was her mistake.

She should have paid attention or else, that green dagger wouldn't have found its way to her back.

The hand that held her from the shoulder and stabbed the blade deep kept Lady Fern from moving or even going closer to the Prince as it let her watch.

"Im… impossible! You?" Fern could only turn her head in a last attempt to meet her killer.

"Why? You never expected me to take the chance?" Eleanor replied with a smile, "You know very well, Miss Fern, how deep I take those grudges."

It wasn't expected to see the Archduchess here at all.

It wasn't expected either that the Assassin Bison which Leon once fought to stalk the Crown Prince and attack him from behind in a state of rage.

"Amazing, isn't it?" Eleanor asked, "This kind of monster is known to hold grudges very deeply and that imbecile of a Prince burnt its home." Eleanor took out her Mithril dagger and pushed Lady Fern on the ground, "Its children may have gotten hurt in the process, you know. The same way you hurt mine."

The fire which Fern didn't stop started spreading and it shed its light on Eleanor who decided to interfere now that she has seen what she wanted to see. Fern crawled on the ground at her last breath trying to reach for Edward but she knew it is impossible at this point.

"His… Highness… stop it… Alice… it wasn't my plan… I just… followed orders." Fern tried her last but it wasn't nearly enough to satisfy Eleanor.

Just the other day, those two met in the Academy as Lady Fern acted as an instructor. She was one of the Royal Agents who kept watch on Eleanor's daughter in order to use her as a bargaining chip instead of the missing Leon. Eleanor had to go against Fern and other Royal Agents in a covert attempt to allow Alice to escape the trapped academy.

But Eleanor was smiling down on Fern.

"Oh… I'm not upset about that. My daughter can take care of the likes of you. I am talking about my son." Eleanor's smile turned into a cold glare of doom as she pointed her right hand towards the figure who was pushing himself up from the ground and dusting himself off.

Fern's eyes widened.

"L…?" Fern tried to say the word but she was already drifting off.

"Leon." Eleanor said the word for Fern as she could watch the latter pass away with the most priceless expressions she would ever want to capture.

The second bodyguard of the Crown Prince has fallen.

Leon watched that from a distance as Eleanor took care of Fern. He coughed dust twice and watched as the Assassin Bison trapped the Prince to a tree and kept ramming against it with the Prince barely surviving save for a few ribs and some bone fractures here and there.

The tree which Edward was pinned against started to catch fire as well and one of its branches caught on fire. As it fell, it scared off the Bison whose weakness was Fire.

It was as Eleanor speculated, that Monster which hates fire and holds grudges got its small herd trapped in the fire which Edward made at the request of Pearl. It identified Edward as the source of fire and stalked him until the chance presented itself. It was still angry at Edward but it still couldn't defeat its fear of fire.

Edward dropped down with his bones almost crushed and his muscles badly torn. The Assassin Bison may not be a frontal attacker but its attack damage can't lose to any other monster of its kind. Making it out alive in this situation is already a miracle, getting saved by the Fire is another miracle already.

If only his guards would come to save him, it would be asking Fate too much but he needs to survive no matter what.

Yet a figure stood between him and the Bison, the figure he didn't want to see the most.

"You look like shit!" Leon said.

"…" If Edward could reply, he would have thrown a tantrum already but he thinks that his lungs are damaged as well so he kept staring at the masked assassin with spiteful eyes.

"To be honest, I don't know why the fuck l am here at all but that thing in my head! It keeps pointing me towards you… do I need to kill you and get it over with or something?" Leon talked to Edward as he crouched down.

Edward didn't break his spiteful look as if he will never admit defeat.

"MUAAA!" The Assassin Bison let out a monstrous bellow that expressed its dissatisfaction that he can't dig its horns into Edward.

"Well, if it's not me, then it is that fellow."

Leon stood up and took another step towards Edward trying to figure out what to do with him but as he did so, he stepped on something. It wasn't clear what that is at first but it seemed like a pouch to Leon.

Something that has fallen off Edward's pocket when he got violated by the Assassin Bison just now.

Leon lifted it off the ground and as Edward saw that, his eyes almost jumped out of his skull. Leon noticed that reaction but that wasn't important at the moment as it is not the only reaction he spotted.

The Ring of Horus reacted as well.

The Ring showed itself right away the moment Leon picked up the pouch and as if it became excited, the Ring started to radiate faintly as well.

"That? Could it be?" Leon frowned.

Could it be that this is what the Ring wanted? The Quest it gave him? The reason why he was dragged all the way into the forest when the Ring almost mind-controlled him.

The Pouch was just tied well by a string which offered no resistance whatsoever when Leon cut it and what was inside is…

"MOTHERFUCKER!"

Leon recognized it immediately.

A Game Item, something that shouldn't exist even in this reality.

"How the fuck? Why does such a thing exist?" Leon made a strange face as he looked at Edward whose expressions became grim.

The [Hint Gem]! That's how Leon knew it.

It was something that every player had at the start of the game and it always took one slot in their inventories. It is just a cheat item that is used when the player is clueless about his objective.

Just by clicking or tabbing on this purple heart-shaped gem, it would display a window with a Hint. It didn't even have a floating screen, stats, value, or even a name, the [Hint Gem] is just one of the names given to it on the game's forums by the players.

In his mind, Leon just considered this gem of the game mechanics which helps the players, never in his mind would he imagine it to be something real.

< Emergency Quest Complete! >

< You have found the System Upgrade Material [₱#!£¡@№6®3® $70№€] >

< Error! Item information is corrupted. The host must use [Knowledge Magic - Read] to analyze and reform the corrupted information. >

< Error! System Upgrade is halted until the ₱#!£¡@№6®3® $70№€ is identified. >

< Error… >

< Error… >

< Error… >

< Err…

"SHUT UP!"

Leon finally ran out of patience with how annoying the System has become. This annoying piece of shit has caused and will keep causing him more and more pain if this goes on.

But now as he got what he wanted, he should find a safe place and start analyzing this Gem as soon as possible.

But his shout just now scared off both the Assassin Bison and the Prince who was leaning on a tree. He seemed genuinely pissed and his anger might get triggered at any second now.

{Leon, you must get out of here!}

But Eleanor kept telepathically talking to him.

"You!" Leon looked at Edward, "Where did you get this from? It was with you since the first day in the academy, right?"

Leon seemed angry but Edward was actually worried and scared for maybe the first time today.

That gem Leon was holding is something precious. He must never let it get taken away.

Edward tried to extend the hand holding his wounds and snatch the gem from Leon but the latter was faster.

"Idiot." Leon backed away and amidst the fire and the smoke he approached Edward again.

{Leon, hurry!} Eleanor kept talking but Leon ignored her.

"You want it back?" Leon asked Edward.

To his suffering, Edward lost the support of the tree behind him and fell on his side with all the pain and agony he felt. He looked up to Leon and tried to extend his other hand. Leon, however, retreated the Gem away.

"I'll give it to you on one condition." Leon spoke but behind his mask, an evil smile formed, "You just have to admit defeat."

"F… uck… off!" Edward couldn't help but curse at Leon which caused the blood he held back to spill from his mouth.

"Silly boy!" Leon laughed, "You were outmatched, outdone, and outlasted. There is no shame in defeat."

There's no shame in defeat? Edward couldn't even comprehend those words even though he once said them to someone.

"Just… you… wait!"

"For what?" Leon asked, "I won't wait for your reinforcement to arrive. I am getting the fuck out of here as soon as I can. In other words, this precious gem will no longer be retrievable. Still want it?"

Edward kept extending his hand up but that was no longer a situation he could control.

"It is just a defeat. You were already running away." Leon said, "One defeat for one gem. Fair?"

Edward was very prideful but this Gem was way too important. He can never let it go.

He has to step on his pride for once… just this once.

"Fine… your win… my… defeat."

All that Edward needed to say are those words for Leon's eyes to lighten up.

< The Title [Loser] has been removed. >

"Much appreciated!" He said and stood up.

"The… Stone." Edward groaned as he spoke.

"You know what they say… Losers not Choosers." Leon laughed.

"Liar!" Edward spitefully shouted.

"Thief." Leon corrected him.

He retreated back, walked by the burning branches which were blocking the Assassin Bison bath, and looked between them. With a wave of his hand, he used Earth Magic to clear the path for the Bison.

"Your prey." He even signaled the monster to go right in.

{Leon… Run!}

"Come…" Leon turned towards Eleanor who was supposed to be a bit behind but he suddenly stopped, "... on…"

A large battalion of Knights was swarming through the forest towards the fire like a horde of angry beasts. The Knights came with the students who were part of the raid and heading them was none other than Nora Frye.

"Here he is! That's the sinner! The Assassin!"

"Fuck!"

In unison, both Leon and the Assassin Bison turned around and ran towards the forest amidst a rain of arrows, spells, and all manner of throwables.

As his Mana was mostly drained. Using any big magic seemed like a bad idea thus Leon could only jump on the back of the Assassin Bison. Ride it backward and use his short bow to scare any chaser who may get too close.

In a full ten minutes of a relentless chase, Leon made sure that both the timing and the space were perfect as he jumped off the Bison's back into a nearby river leading out of the forest.

Carried by the stream and the smile of victory, Leon exited the forest under the first hour of sunlight in this new day with the river leading back towards the old city of Karanberg.

Everything is messed up but one thing is for certain, Leon felt like never better.

< [Riding Technique] Level Up (5 → 6) >

< [Swimming Technique] Level Up (2 → 3) >

< [Marksmanship Technique] Level Up (1 → 3) >

< [Enhanced Stamina] Level Up (4 → 5) >

< [Enhanced Mana Sense] Level Up (2 → 3) >

< [Fatigue Resistance] Level Up (3 → 4) >

< [Shadow Magic] Level Up (1 → 2) >

< [Combat Magic] Level Up (4 → 5) >