Crimson Core

The rumors of Lord Marshall coming back from his travel was like music to the ears of his people. The loved him, he was very benevolent. It was during his reign that the Blue Dragon City flourished for the first time in history… Especially after their decline.

Samantha had heard the rumors in one of her many escapades at the inns tavern and brought them to the knowing of Darcy. Presently they were on their way to the Marshall manor.

“Do you think that our Lord would be happy to see us? I mean he left without leaving a word.” Samantha asked with an expression of concern.

Darcy thought for a while before responding, “I really cannot say, but when we get there, we would find out”.

Presently they were in a carriage; a rented one. They were getting really close to the Marshall manor.

After a few moments the carriage stopped. The chauffeur opened the door to the carriage to let the girls know that they were at the manor of the City Lord.

“Thank you, my good man.” Darcy came down from the carriage and handed over his pay to him.

Darcy had just gotten used to not being treated like a princess all the time. Darcy had gotten accustomed to coming down from the carriage and doing other things by herself as well. It was hard at first, but Samantha was by her side all the way.

Samantha on the other hand was a rough little nut to crack. She could survive on booze and meat just like a man. She had no problem teaching Darcy the ways of the slums.

Samantha and Darcy watched as the carriage disappeared into the corner before turning around to walk to the manor. The menacing expressions of the guards was enough to relay the message you are not welcome to even the most daft of men.

Samantha and Darcy saw this but still walked towards the menacing guards.

“Turn around!” One of the guards said.

“We would be glad if you let us see Kai.” Darcy said trying her best to be as polite as possible.

“The Marshall manor is not receiving visitors now. Please kindly go back.” This time another guard said, but in a calm and polite tone.

“but we really need to go inside…” And the banter went on.

Kai was walking into the manor from his early morning trainings. Well, it could not really be called early morning because, being the beast he was, Kai trained all night.

At first it was to check his body’s limit, but now he saw that even he did not know the potential within his own body. These few days he got to get used to his body, He had to get used to his body.

As Kai walked towards the mansion, he saw the guards at the gate having a hard time. There were two young women at the gate; it appeared that they wanted to come in.

It was a normal scene, as a lot of people wanted to see the city Lord or something like that. But for some reason Kai was drawn to them. His interest was piqued by the two girls’ familiarity.

He quietly summoned a Void’s door and walked through it. He opened the door to the other side and saw that it was actually Samantha and Darcy at the door.

“Let them in.” He said to the soldier at the gate.

The familiar voice startled the soldier, but he was quick to react. “Yes, young sir”.

The inner servants and outer servants of the mansion revered Kai; his respect value was off the charts. They all saw Kai carry Lord Marshall into the manor. At least most of them saw it, and the rumor spread.

The guard had opened the gate for Darcy and Samantha to come in, but they didn’t. The two girls were gobsmacked.

"Darcy, what is the problem?” Kai asked as he saw that the girls still stood there.

Even the guard looked with awe at something. The thing they were looking at was none other than Kai. His rock-hard abs.

He had just finished his workout, so his muscles were still tense and the fat around them had been burnt.

The body of a mage was totally different from a mortal’s, at least in a few noticeable aspects. The body of a mage, when they started their journey in elemental manipulation, was exactly the same, if not inferior, to that of a mortal.

Nevertheless, as the mage grew in power and understanding of the element,. They manipulated their body became stronger and muscles firmer.

As a mage moved up the ranks, his body and mind improved as well, each of them getting stronger in proportion to that of the mage.

A commoner-ranked mage would get hurt if he was cut with a bronze-ranked sword or shot an arrow. A warrior-rank mage could be hurt by a high-level bronze-rank weapon. And so the list went, but for the noble and king-ranked mages only weapons forged out of the elements could hurt them.

After a few moments of awkwardness, the two girls were walking behind Kai.

It didn’t take long for Kai to lead the girls into the mansion’s sitting room.

“Have a seat; I would be right with you. If you need anything, let the servants know.” Kai addressed the girls before he walked upstairs into his room.

It was rude to address them as he was. It simply was not gentlemanly. The mansion was not really that magnificent to Darcy but on the other hand, Samantha was in awe of what she saw. She looked like a cat seeing snow for the first time; the expression of amazement could not be faked.

Darcy looked at her and instead of having an expression of disgust or repulsion, she looked at her with longing. She had been so used to living life in extravagance that she forgot what it was to appreciate the little things.

‘I still have a lot to learn.’ She thought to herself with a smile plastered on her face.

“Sigh…this place feels empty.” A weak voice resounded throughout the living room.

The unexpectedness of the voice made Samantha visible startle. Darcy was more refined; she just raised an eyebrow as she sipped from the cup of cinnamon tea that had just been served to her.

Darcy had specifically asked for Kai’s favorite tea; she wanted to know what he liked. Although Darcy did not really find the cinnamon tea to her liking, she still took it; she preferred black jade tea.

The sound of someone stepping on the hard marble floor resounded though out the silent sitting room. It did not take long for the sickly figure of Lord Marshall to appear as he took his time walking down the staircase.

“Who are you?” Marshall asked in a weak tone, he was still recovering. He had just woken up a few moments ago and decided to eat breakfast downstairs at the dining table.

To his surprise he was seeing two strange girls sitting in his sitting room.

“Good morning Lord Marshall,” Darcy said with a bow. “…I am Dorchaidehe of the Firefield family.” Darcy stood up from her seat to show respect to him.

“Oh, Noble Zachary sent you? How is he doing?” Lord Marshall asked in a sagely manner with a raised eyebrow.

“My father is doing well, but he did not send me.” Darcy said respectfully.

This time his eyebrow was raised even higher. “Oh, is that so what did you come here for then?” He was genuinely shocked.

By now, Lord Marshall had walked down the stairs and sat down in his favorite chair as he talked with the strange girls in his sitting room.

“Well sir, we came to see Kai.” At this moment Marshall’s expression changed. He could not believe that his daughter was being played by him.

‘… No, I cannot think like that. He is selling off his life to save her.’ Marshall had his fatherly instincts kick in, the reflex to protect his daughter, even if she was no longer with them.

“Oh, how could I forget, please have a seat.” Surprisingly Darcy was still standing.

“What about you, what are you doing here?”. This time he directed his attention to Samantha who had just sat down.

Samantha really did not know how to be polite; she was never trained to be. “My name is Samantha Heath, Nice to meet you.” She stood up and extended her hand for and handshake.

“Oh! Nice to meet you too.” Marshall was taken aback a bit by her straight forwardness.

“Thank you, sir. I came with my elder sister; we came for the same purpose.” Samantha said as she pointed at Darcy.

“You two must be sworn sisters, right?” This time Marshall had directed his attention to the Darcy. He had deduced that she was the brains of the operation and the bigger sister. It was only wise to talk to the older and presumably wiser one of the two.

“Yes, we are,” Darcy answered.

“Good, good.” Lord Marshall nodded. “So, what’s your relationship with him, I mean Kai?”

“well—”

“Lord Marshall, they are my subordinates.” Darcy was about to say something when Kai cut in.

Kai knew that Darcy was a wise girl. There was no way that she was going to tell Marshall their exact relationship, but Lord Marshall was family to him. You never hide things from family.

“Lord Marshall, you have woken up. Why wasn’t I informed about that? How are you doing now?” Although the haughtiness in Kai’s voice was on the high side, concern was still present in his eyes.

It took some time for Marshall to comprehend what just escaped Kai’s mouth. Lord Marshall’s eyes appeared to say wow!! He already has two subordinates—strong ones, but why only girls?

“I did not want to disturb you; I heard you were training.” Marshall said it as if it were a reflex.

“It’s alright,” Kai said immediately.

Soon he and the girls were left alone. Marshall was too old and still recovering to put his mind into what they were saying. He still had mourning to do.

Kai was looking... To put in simple terms, sharp. He had something that looked like a nobleman’s attire.

“what’s wrong with Chelsea?” Darcy simply had to ask.

The moment she did, though, the smile on Kai’s face seemed to disappear. The expression of ultimate sadness was etched on his face.

“I am sorry I should not have brought it up, I thought...” Darcy regretted ever bringing up that topic; it was clear that she just hit Kai’s soft spot.

“No, no. it’s alright; you just did not know that is all. She is doing well now. Its just that her soul and body are not together right now.” Darcy had never seen Kai that serious before.

The expression of desolation on Kai’s face scared Samantha a lot. “I am sorry about that, is there anything we can do to help?” Darcy asked.

Darcy was shocked and at the same time delighted to hear the sad news. Her rival in love had gone away, this was her chance; she would not let it go.

Another man’s meat is another man’s poison, or so the saying goes. Although Darcy offered to help, it was all she could do. It was not as if he could bring her back to life or something like that. In her mind she already won Kai over, it was just a matter of time.

By the way during all this Samantha just looked around and kept silent.

“So,” Kai started. His facial expression had changed. “…we are going on our first faction field trip.” As he opened his mouth to speak his countenance kept changing; the two girls had never seen him this way.

The sudden change in countenance did not surprise them, but what surprised them was the fact that they had never seen Kai talk about something with so much passion.

“Yay! Field trip!!” Finally, Samantha said something. Samantha seemed really happy about the field trip. But in reality, she was happy that she would get to spend time with her family and experience some family bonding.

Darcy, on the other hand, was happy but didn’t let it show. “Where are we going?” She asked with a somber expression.

Kai chuckled at the extremity of their reactions, “Don’t worry I will tell you soon, but before that I want to show you something.”

Kai led the girls upstairs. The trip was accompanied with silence, the atmosphere was heavy. The sounds of Kai’s feet tapping on the hard wood floor resonated throughout the hallway. “We are here,” Kai said as he broke the fragile silence.

Kai did not wait for them to respond before opening the door. In the actual sense Darcy and Samantha had nothing to say to him. They had come to an understanding that whatever was behind that door was of grave importance to Kai.

Kai led the girls into the room with utmost care. It was as if they were walking on holy ground with the manner of Kai’s behavior.

“This is what I wanted to show you…” it seemed as if Kai wanted to say more, but he had to read the expressions of those he was with.

The scene before them presented itself as surreal. Everything looked normal in the room they were presently in except for one thing; the statue like abomination on the bed.

There was a glass like covering over what seemed to be a human. The human girl was simply breath taking. Her tranquil expression made her look god-like. A ray of light pierced through the blinds and into the room, it reflected off the glossy surface of the coffin Chelsea was in.

The ray of light gave it, this shine and shimmer, a bit of light entered the confinement, landing on Chelsea’s face. Over time the black scales had turned transparent.

“Lets go.” This time Kai had a sad smile on his face. His expression was that of bitterness and sense of loss.

If only he had been strong enough, if only he had been fast enough.

Kai led the girls once again into the living room, away from the scene. Their decent from the room was swift. It did not take long before they were seated in the same position they were.

This time they did not meet Lord Marshall in the sitting room. In a way, it was a relief for the girls, as they really were not comfortable with him sitting there. His aura was intimidating.

“I know you are pondering on what you just saw.” Kai looked to Darcy, his eyes filled with a masked sadness. "Darcy, that was the reason I left without telling you... I had a chance to save her.

Kai kept silent for a bit of time. In actuality, Kai was silent for a brief moment but to the people in the room, the time seemed to be stretched for an eternity.

Kai turned to Samantha and said, “The person you saw in that scale coffin is the whole reason why I came to the central academy in the first place. She is the reason why you met me.”

Although the two girls did not understand why Kai was bringing this up, they knew he was headed somewhere with this.

“I am so sorry. How can I help? Whatever it is.” Darcy still was not backing down. Whatever Kai wanted her to do, she bent on doing it.

It was not every day that such an opportunity fell into her laps. She did not feel happy that Kai was wallowing in pain and guilt and bitterness; she did not understand what Chelsea offered him.

Samantha on the other hand understood his pain. The feeling of losing someone dear was beyond any other pain one could experience emotionally. The feeling of loss still did not leave her even after she had avenged her sister. She totally understood his pain.

“I have a plan, it’s like this…”

Kai laid out his elaborate plan before them, whilst hiding some information from them. He told them about his plan to visit some places to get something. Parts of something scattered around the world.

He gave them a vague explanation of what they were to find and to expect. Kai did not waver to explain the dangers of what they were about to embark on.

“This is very dangerous. If you don’t want to go with me, I would understand.” Kai sincerely would not hold a grudge against them. In a way it would be better for him to go alone than to travel in a group.

“I want to go with you.” Darcy was the first to speak up. She had already planned the heart-warming scenarios, situations that would etch her image into Kai’s soul. She was simply dubious.

Samantha thought for a bit of time. ‘I have nothing else to live for nor to die for. I have always wanted to spend time with my Sir Kai and lady Darcy.’

“I will go with you as well.” Samantha said in almost a whisper.

“Haa,” Kai heaved an air of relief unconsciously. “…That’s great! You would stay here. Soon we would embark on our adventure”.

“Kai…”

Kai had a bit of happiness showing on his face. He stood up about to leave when he heard Samantha call out his name.

“Yes, Samantha, my dear, is there something else you would want to know?” Kai asked with caring eyes, as though he were looking at his child.

The expression Kai had pushed Samantha to speak her mind, “what happened to her? You did not tell us.”

“Samantha!! You should not have said that!” Darcy was quick to scold her. The whole scene before Kai, instead of being offended or sad, he found it funny. “Hahaha, Darcy no need to reprimand her.”

Kai walked back to his seat and spoke up. “Well, Samantha, it’s just like this.”

Kai talked at length about Chelsea. He talked of how he met her and how everything had been. Kai talked of the days he spent with her and stuff like that.

Kai told Samantha about the day that Chelsea had died, how he felt and all. Kai had his reasons why he spoke at length about Chelsea: he wanted Samantha to see how much he valued Chelsea and he had noticed Darcy’s odd behavior and decided to nip it in the bud.

But Darcy was not having it; in her mind, she was all and more of what Kai spoke of Chelsea. She could give more to him than Chelsea could ever dream of.

“So its like this...” Samantha had come to an understanding of how treasured Chelsea was to Kai. She was grateful to Chelsea as well; because of her, she had avenged her sister’s death.

“Melinda!” Kai called out.

He had taken a liking to Melinda; she was his favorite maid. His liking towards her was likely because of that night. Sadly, after Kai had fallen for Chelsea, he didn’t seem to put any other woman in his eyes.

Surprisingly, Melinda didn’t get pregnant as a result of that night. The next morning she woke up with a sore feeling in-between her legs. The aftertaste of being rammed in her baby maker all night last night was memorable.

She loved that feeling; it had been a long time since she felt something like that. It was a wonder why her cave hadn’t packed some cobwebs over time.

She evidently grew closer to Kai. Although she didn’t know what she felt that way that morning, she didn’t put much thought into it.

"Yes, young sir.” A melodic voice was heard from behind the door. Soon an endowed brunette walked out from behind the wall.

“Please take them to their rooms. Make sure they are well taken care of,” Kai instructed.

“Yes, young sir.” Melinda said with a bow. She turned towards the girls and spoke. “Please come with me.”

Samantha and Darcy followed obediently. Samantha looked undisturbed, while on the other hand, Darcy had a conflicted expression etched on her face.

Moreover, the two of them had the same thoughts going through their brains. ‘Are all the women here this endowed!?!?’

Darcy was visibly ambivalent; Kai noticed this but found it rather funny.

“I need to go see how Lord Marshall is doing.” Kai got up from his chair and walked towards Lord Marshall’s chambers.

It did not take long for the girls to be led up to their respective rooms. “Umm… Melinda, can we share a room?” Darcy asked. She knew that she had a great deal to learn from Samantha and that it would not be possible for Kai to want to have sex with her… Yet.

Melinda pondered for a bit. “I don’t see why not. This room is bigger; you can have it.” She said as she pointed to one of the rooms.

“Thank you very much.” Darcy was the one who said most of the words; Samantha did not see anything wrong with it, so she simply went with it.

After a bit of time, the two girls were settled in into the room, it had one bed which meant they had to share.