The Damned Demon

"So I can assure you that Prince Oberon is in good hands," As Asher said this, he looked at the bandaged body lying on the bed with a smile.

Oberon gritted his teeth in anger, though his injuries caused him to wince in pain. His hopes of seeing Rowena's beautiful visage were shattered upon seeing this uncouth alien.

Rebecca's expression froze as she didn't expect this brat to be the one to receive them upon entering the castle. Why would he be wandering around the castle at this hour?

It seemed as if he had been waiting for them, and she was increasingly feeling something didn't sit right.

"Where is the queen? She had personally insisted on letting Oberon heal here," Rebecca asked, indirectly telling him that she wanted to see Rowena.

Asher calmly smiled and said, "Don't worry. Even if my wife isn't here to receive you all, she has entrusted me to help Prince Oberon settle down. So I will make sure you are both taken care of."

Rebecca wrinkled her nose subtly as she said with a hint of venom in her voice, "There is no need to trouble yourself. I have lived long enough in this castle to know my way around," She couldn't believe he was already acting like the owner of this castle.

"Of course. Do as you please," Asher casually said as Rebecca walked past him with loud footsteps, along with a bandaged and disgruntled Oberon being carried along by his servants.

Oberon's eyes were uncontrollably shaking as he passed by Asher, especially remembering the moments Asher and Rowena shared in the Eastern Courtyard earlier.

"Hope you get well soon, Prince Oberon," Asher said in a tone of goodwill, though his eyes glinted with a indiscernible yet frightening, ominous light.

Rebecca shot Asher a withering glare from ahead and wanted to go back to her mansion right away since she didn't like this at all. But she knew they had no choice but to stay now that they already came all the way here.

As her son was carried towards his room, she couldn't help but wonder what that brat's true intentions were. By now, she was completely sure that it was not Rowena who insisted Oberon to come here but Asher who must have persuaded her to do so.

This made her scratch her elbow with a frustrated look, realizing how Asher had got close to Rowena to the point he could even convey his wishes through her.

"M-Mother…What's going on? Why was that alien there to receive us?" Oberon asked with a trembling gaze.

Rebecca pressed her lips together firmly and didn't want to tell him what she was thinking about, as it could only hurt him even more. She knew right now Oberon can't think straight since his mind and body has been equally hurt leaving him disoriented and fuzzy.

But suddenly, the doors of the room creaked open as she saw Seron come in, "What is he doing here?" Seron calmly asked as the doors closed behind him, as he took a short glance at the miserable state of Oberon.

Rebecca clicked her tongue as she got up and said in a cutting tone, "Is that all you have to ask after seeing your son lying in such a state? What kind of a father are you?"

Seron let out a tired sigh as he rubbed his forehead and said, "Stop raising your voice. I have had a long day, and it's not like he is dying, is he? I just came here to make sure everything was alright, and it seems so."

Rebecca let out a loud harrumph as she saw Seron walk past her.

"You will be alright soon, son. I have talked with Igrid to make sure you will be up on your feet in no time," Seron said with a brief smile as he stood before the bed with his hands behind his back.

Oberon subtly nodded as he said weakly, "Thank you…father. I will be fine," However, his eyes dimmed with disappointment upon seeing how his father didn't even ask how he got injured or why.

Seron hummed as he turned around to leave.

"You are leaving already?" Rebecca asked with furrowed brows, her eyes seemingly piqued.

"I have to prepare a meeting with our vassals tomorrow. You are here to keep him company. So everything will be fine," Seron said with a placid look as he grabbed the handle of the door to open.

"What? I have to leave for the tower within just a few hours. Who is going to look after our injured son when I am over there?" Rebecca asked with a corded neck as she pointed at Oberon with her hand.

Seron looked at her with a shake of his head, "Don't baby a grown-up like him. He is a Soul Purger with a powerful dragon as his companion. So don't make it seem like any harm will happen to him in the most protected castle in the kingdom just because you took your eyes off him for one second. You will only be crippling him from within by doing so," Seron said with a stern look as he left the room, leaving behind a displeased Rebecca whose fists were tightened.

"You…" Rebecca couldn't believe how Seron was acting, as if she was getting worried for dumb reasons.

Did he really not understand that this was all Asher's doing? By now, she knew Asher wouldn't raise his tail unless he was up to something.

But at the same time, she had to go to the tower to train the batch of five juniors. Even if all of them had good chances of passing, she wanted to make sure of it.

"Mother…You should go…I don't want you to waste your time…I will be fine," Oberon feebly said as he felt his pride hurt after hearing his father's words. Surely, he didn't want his mother to babysit someone like him and let others know about it.

Rebecca could see her son was getting concerned about his pride, and with a helpless sigh, she nodded and said, "Okay, son. But don't lower your guard until you get healed. You can't even use your mana in this state."

…

"I barely got any sleep. Why did he tell us to come here so early?" Onyx grumbled with his back bent.

"I know, right. Our training time isn't supposed to be now," Graven said with a tired sigh.

"Would we even survive the trial? He didn't even train us much yesterday," Zizola said with a worried look, feeling let down by the mentor they were under. She felt hopeful hearing the royal consort's words yesterday about how the trial was a cakewalk.

But he only made them learn basic movement exercises and told them to keep doing it for the entire day while he left within an hour or so.

She could also see how Onyx and Graven also had yet to shake off the fatigue from those movement exercises, especially since the royal consort made them do extra.

"What are you three grumbling about? Is it about Master Asher?" Thetis asked as she crossed her arms with a stern look. She had observed how these three had been secretly complaining about their mentor since yesterday.

The three of them were frightened as Zizola frantically shook her head and said, "No, we weren't. We wouldn't dare," She knew Thetis would report everything to the royal consort and didn't want to risk losing her head.

"Don't pay them too much attention, sister. They think they are too good for Master Asher, which makes them not have faith in what he promised us. If he said he can make us pass the trial, he will," Nereus said with a confident look while sharpening his spear.

*Creak!*

Suddenly the doors of their training room opened as everyone let out soft gasps and immediately formed a line with their backs bent, "Good morning, Master Asher!"

Asher hummed as he looked at the five and gestured at them to stand straight, "Most of you might be wondering why I called you all here so early."

Zizola, Onyx, and Graven glanced at each other as they heard his words.

"It's because I have a session with Master Duncan later on, and I can't skip any classes he holds for me since he is even busier than I am. That is what happened yesterday. Otherwise, I could have taught you all more," Asher explained with his hands behind his back.

All of them, especially Zizola and the pair of Stoneborn men, nodded slowly, feeling that they were too quick to judge by thinking that the royal consort couldn't care less if they die in the trial or not.

However, in truth, Asher wasn't desperate to win the bet against Rebecca since he had nothing of value to lose. After all, his priority was strengthening himself, and it was quite tough to get a class with Duncan.

He had heard how Duncan sometimes doesn't come out of his personal study for months, and Asher couldn't take the risk of learning nothing for so long.

"But the exercises I made you all do yesterday are going to be useful for today's training, where we are going to start for real. For passing the first trial, your movements are what matters the most because if you don't know how to carry your feet in the chamber, you are good as dead," Asher said in a serious tone, making them realize why he made them practice all such exercises.

They also noticed that he seemed to be in a relatively good mood and didn't seem as scary as yesterday. They could only guess what had happened.

"Before we start, drink up these potions, which will all get rid of the fatigue from yesterday," Asher said as he threw five glowing dark green potions to all five.

These Stamina Potions weren't cheap, but he had enough life crystals to not worry about buying these potions for a week.

When a person gets exhausted like these five were, their stats wouldn't be in top shape. It could be that their effective MP would be 10% less, or it could be a combination of destructive effects on their stats.

However, by drinking these Stamina Potions, it would remove any negative effects on them and bring them back to top shape. But of course, there was a limit to the effectiveness of these potions when taken at a certain time interval.

However, the five of them almost stumbled as they were shocked upon seeing Epic Grade Potions getting toward them.

They had never been so careful in their lives as they gently caught it with their hands while their eyes gazed at them, reflecting the glowing liquid in the potion.

Zizola, Onyx, and Graven came from destitute families, and for them, even a Rare Grade potion was inexpensive, let alone dream of holding an Epic Grade potion.

The three meekly looked at the royal consort and wondered what he wanted in exchange. Surely, he can't be giving these to them for free, right?

But to their shock, they saw Nereus and Thetis gulping down the Stamina Potion already before shouting at the top of their voices with a deep bow, "Thank you for your faith in us, Master Asher. We won't let you down!"

They knew these two were coming from a Naiadon Tribe, which was a decently powerful tribe in their eyes. Still, it was not as if Epic Grade potions were common things for these two as well.

"Good. Now I expect you two to show it in your actions as well and you three as well. So stop staring at me and drink it already. As I said before, I don't have all day. Today I am going to teach you crucial things, which you all are going to make use of for the entire week and for the trial, of course," Asher said as he raised his chin and crossed his arms.