Seven days later.
Standing before a long bridge were two individuals.
One had a pure black silk wrapped around his eyes, his hair was lengthy, falling to his shoulders.
The other had a plain expression, his white hair was neatly styled into a middle part.
"This the bridge, huh." Alan muttered.
The bridge fell over a large body of water, connecting to the other side of the city.
It was the bridge separating the higher and lower districts.
From the second district it was practically a world belonging to nobles, as such they didn't usually come to the third district and mix with the commoners.
Alan honestly found it pretty stupid, in the end they were all human.
Leaving his thoughts aside, Alan and Lucian traversed the long bridge.
At the end was an open gate that granted passage to the district.
"Halt!" A guard stopped the two as they approached.
Alan narrowed his eyes behind his blindfold.
'He is stronger.' Alan accessed, for the first time since arriving at the capital, he found someone stronger than himself.
"Why's there a guard just for a district?" Alan asked.
"This your first visit to the capital?" The guard questioned, while his eyes scanned over the two.
"Yeah."
"I see." He nodded. "The third and second district are what divides the commoners from nobles."
Alan nodded, already knowing this.
"To stop any suspicion individuals from passing into the higher districts there is security."
"Alright, I see, so what do you need."
"Identification."
"Fuck." Alan cursed and rubbed his forehead. "What if you don't have one?"
"Entry denied." The guard narrowed his eyes. "And marked suspicious."
"Hah." Alan sighed, then lowered his blindfold, revealing his vivid violet eyes. "What about now?"
The guard's eye slowly widened in recognition. "Zevril?"
"Not anymore, I'm disowned."
"What?" the guard's brows were knitted together.
Without replying properly, Alan pulled out an envelope from his dimensional artifact.
It was a black envelope, sealed with purple wax and the symbol of a lion.
"An envelope?" The guard asked.
"It's my invitation to the fourth princess's age of coming ceremony."
"Hmm." The guard took the envelope and inspected it without opening its contents.
"It's legit." He recognised the authenticity of the seal placed on the envelope and handed it back to Alan.
"So?" Alan asked, pulling his blindfold back to his eyes.
"Well... according to protocol, I would need your identification..." He paused. "But your bloodline is enough for you to pass."
Then he turned to Lucian. "What about him?"
"Oh, uh." Alan looked at Lucian. "He's... my servant."
"...Yes." Lucian confirmed. "I serve..."
"Well, servants aren't required to be checked." The guard rubbed his chin. "You're free to go, I guess."
"Thanks." Alan waved then strolled past him.
"But I would like to know." The guard stopped them. "What brings you to the second district?"
"The tournament that starts today."
"Starts today?" The guard tilted his head. "You mean end's today?"
"What?"
"Today is the finals for the tournament."
"The hell?" Alan whipped his head at Lucian.
Lucian didn't even blink. "Whoops."
"So then, who is fighting." Sighing, Alan decided to ask anyway.
"It's the second prince, paired along with another high noble."
"Is that so..." Alan nodded. "When's the fight."
"In about three hours."
"Last question, how strong is the second prince?"
"The second prince? He is rank 2." The guard lowered his eyes to Alan then to Lucian and muttered. "And you two are stronger..."
"Well, thanks for the info!" Alan walked pasted the guard, along with Lucian, entering the open gate that led into the district.
...
A fountain stood in the middle of the second district, within the very fountain were the statues of three figures.
One was that of a man, his hair was long down to his waist, there was another male statue, standing upright, the last one was that of a woman, all three of the statues were worn down by time, their features unclear.
Beneath the three statutes was a long fountain with flowing water, as well as a sign, it read.
[In memorial of the three heros of the north]
[Astra Fen Soldant]
[Noah Wyn Caelis]
[Lyra Nyx Zevril]
It was a monument depicting the heros who fought for the world five hundred years ago.
"I wonder why there isn't a single statue for the fourth member." Alan muttered more to himself.
It was widely known fact, the heros party included an elf from the eastern continent.
Each continent was ruled by a different race.
The Northern continent was ruled by humans.
The Western continent was ruled by beast folks and dwarves.
The Eastern continent was ruled by elves.
The former Southern continent was ruled by dragons, the strongest continent on the planet.
However now, the demon's continent was primarily ruled by demons.
It was rare to find someone of another race within a different continent, but not completely uncommon, as some people lived in coexistence.
However, something Alan found to be extremely interesting, was that mana cores functioned differently across the various races.
Humans were gifted with a natural Affinity once awakened, a concept that combines with their signature mana for the rest of their lives as they ascended in ranks.
Beast folk's mana cores resonated with their body to another level, their core doesn't awaken an affinity, instead their rank progression builds their body into a walking disaster.
But elves were something else.
Elves were blessed by mana itself, they never receive an Affinity, rather the very mana itself allows for them to utilise all four elements, water, fire, earth and wind.
Not to mention elves were loved by spirits, practically from their youth they could form pacts with spirits who grew alongside them, acting as a growing companion.
Based from just birth, elves were significantly superior to all other races, born with natural ability to use four elements, high lifespans, even spirits naturally flocked to them.
However, five hundred years ago, before the birth of the abyss, elves were actually an extremely passive and peaceful race.
They would spend the majority of their lifetime tending to the world tree, along with spirits, to maintain the wellbeing of their continent.
But the dreadful abyssal creatures, along with the demons, forced the elves to change.
And in the middle of that change, an anomaly was created, someone whose name was branded as the god's mistake.
Sylvestia, an ordinary elf without a drop of high blood.
The very same elf shattered beliefs of what was thought to be possible.
She single-handedly formed pacts with four spirit kings, the highest tier of spirits.
She was one of the four individuals to be recorded as the known first rank 7 others than the dragons.
Furthermore, she ventured alongside the three heros of the north, and sealed the abyssal creatures and demons.
She was also the only known rank 8 elf to exist.
Words about her achievements and feats were spread all over the world, in books, fairytales, documentaries and biographies, so much that even Alan learnt of them.
Yet, there wasn't a single statue dedicated to her in the Northern continent.
"Maybe because she is still alive?" Lucian replied.
Indeed, the great hero from five hundred years ago was still alive, and currently residing in the Eastern Continent.
"Oh, wait, it might be because she is an elf, and this is the Northern continent." Alan suddenly thought.
"Oh."
"Damn, we are stupid." Alan sighed, then continued walking past the fountain, leaving his thoughts about the world behind.
Alan looked around and observed his surroundings, the market stalls were all gone, only proper shops and buildings remained.
Many people walked the street from the sides, while carriages were constantly travelling through the roads.
The expressions of the nobles were all maintained, with faint smiles they traversed the streets wearing expensive and elegant clothings.
"Yeah, this place sucks." Was Alan's immediate opinion on the second district.
He hated how silent the path was, he missed the loud laughter and joy that filled the third district, replaced by nobles trying to maintain their reputations.
All this elegant act was exhausting for Alan, he hated nothing more than being unable to express himself.
And so he simply did not, after all he was a bastard so no one would care... was his thought process.
"How undignified..."
"I assure you that's a commoner..."
"No dignity..."
As Alan wandered around without a care for his appearance, whispers naturally filtered through the surroundings.
"Yeah, nobles suck." Alan reinforced his thoughts.
Being put under some foolish social norms to uphold a high status was just stupid in his eyes.
He much preferred the lifestyles of commoners who just live day to day without anyone to judge their behaviours.
Hearing all those whispers about himself, did Alan change anything?
Nope, he continued walking through the streets as before.
"Oi Lucian, where's the tournament happening." Alan asked.
"Why would I know?"
"You're bloody useless." Alan clicked his tongue.
Alan looked forward, a group of three noblemen were speaking with one another, close to Alan and Lucian.
"Yo guys." Alan approached with a natural wave. "Mind telling us where the tournament is being held?"
"Ugh." His response was met with a disgusted scowl. "Why is a commoner even here?"
"Are you two even commoners, your features are fairly good..." But the one in the middle narrowed his eyes at Alan and Lucian. "A result of a hidden affair with a commoner, then tossed away by the family?"
'Damn, he is actually pretty on point.' Alan thought.
"And how come you are wearing a blindfold." The middle one raised a brow. "Are you blind?"
The two nobles besides him snickered to themselves, listening to the middle one talk.
"Yeah, you got it all right." Alan just nodded, not bothering to even react much. "Now, mind telling me where the tournament is?"
"Heh." The one in the middle scoffed. "Looks like you don't know your place."
He stepped forward and towards Alan. "A little filth like you need to be humbled."
"Why the hell do all these nobles talk like Alden?" Alan shook his head, not taking this seriously.
And did this guy really think he was even close to Alan's level?
Alan could immediately tell the noble in front of him was just a rank 1, in fact, most nobles around his age were.
'Ah right.' Alan nodded, he suddenly remembered the artifact dealer telling him inexperienced individuals would mistake his lack of presence as weakness.
As funny as it was, Alan wasn't exactly fond of this kind of treatment.
The moment the noble got close enough, Alan lifted the blindfold on one eye, just enough for his eye to be visible to the man in front of him.
"Listen, stains like yo—" His words caught in his throat the moment the noble caught sight of Alan's eyes.
A vivid violet holding a sharp vertical pupil in its centre, before the young man even processed it.
The violet eyes shimmered, the vertical pupils narrowed further into thin slits.
Then.
[gaze]
The noble man collapsed to his knees onto the floor, his eyes trembling as he looked back at Alan's eyes.
His friend's eyes immediately widened in pure confusion, before their bodies stiffened in understanding.
Still feeling it wasn't enough, Alan poured even more mana into his eyes.
Soon, the noble's entire body was shaking, from small vibrations to erratic spasms, the floor beneath his legs started pooling in a nasty liquid.
The two companions were about to flee in pure horror, but one look from Lucian rooted them to their spots.
Not long after.
Thump
The arrogant noble collapsed, white foam emerged from his mouth as he slumped into his own pool of urine.
"Now then!" Alan spoked in a lighthearted tone, pulling his blindfold back down. "How about we try again?"
The two nobles face was pale in contrast to Alan's bright smile.
"You wouldn't happen to know where the tournament is happening, would you?"