A group of three people wearing bluish-purple robes with runic patterns were standing in front of Luceran, who was sitting behind the desk inside the main office. The trio were scanning Luceran and constantly thinking in their minds what kind of man this prince was, while Luceran was also analyzing the trio from head to toe.
"I heard from the Mayor that you want to speak with me about joining the army?" Luceran broke the silence by interrogating them about their visit.
"Yes, Your Highness. We would like to know the rules and benefits for joining the army," Cassandra replied to the prince humbly. They still could not process that the second prince of the Kyros Divine Empire was stationed at a backwater city like Ironmarch.
"Here is the contract for mages." Luceran offered a paper to the leader to read. Cassandra took the paper and scanned it. A few minutes of silence fell in the office. Luceran did not mind the silence, looking unperturbed by the development.
Cassandra frowned as she read the contract. She finished reading the contract and passed it to the other members of her group.
"This…" Vena said as she finished reading the contract. Prar was also looking uncomfortable after reading the contract, knowing that the benefits were not that 'special.'
"Why? Do you think that I am belittling you by offering you that little amount of salary?" Luceran lazily said while still looking at the paperwork on the table, not bothering to look at them.
"No, Your Highness, it's just that we did not expect that we were only worth this much," Cassandra replied with an apologetic face, looking scared to anger the prince.
"You think too highly of yourselves," Luceran said while putting the paperwork on the table and meeting their eyes. "You must be thinking that you are very valuable and important. Let's see your real worth then; follow me to the barrack for a spar." He stood up and walked out of the office without a second glance, leaving the three mages standing there in stunned silence.
Half an hour later, at the open field in the barrack, six people were standing in sparring clothes. Cassandra, Vena, Prar, Rhody, and Josh were standing together as a group, while Luceran was standing on the opposite side.
"No need to hold back. This is your opportunity to negotiate for a better salary. If you manage to injure me, I will consider changing your contract again," he said flatly to the group of five. "You may come all at once," he said smugly at them, clearly looking down on all of them.
Looking at the prince's stance, the group of five were still looking uncertain about whether to go all out or hold back. After all, this was the second prince of a Divine Empire. They could not afford to offend him, or their lives could be forfeit.
Looking at their uncertain and afraid expressions, Luceran's face twitched, and he thought, 'Looks like I have to do something extreme to assess their true potential.'
Suddenly, a few small fireballs were hurled at them at a blinding speed. The group was shocked by the sudden attack by the prince; they reacted a bit late, and the leader, Cassandra, only managed to cast 'Wind Wall' to block the fireballs. The impact of the explosion sent them back a few meters. Still shocked by the development, Rhody and Josh stood up, looking uncomfortable and angry at the prince's sneak attack, while Prar and Vena were still struggling to stand up.
"Everyone, in position!" Cassandra yelled and ordered her teammates. Hearing her usual command, the others readied themselves and formed a formation: Vena in the middle, Rhody and Josh at the back, while Cassandra and Prar were at the front.
Luceran smiled at their response. Looking at the prince's smug face, their expressions became unsightly, and they felt annoyed. 'Revenge' time was visibly written on their faces. Cassandra made a hand gesture, and her group began to move.
Vena reached out, and a steel scepter materialized in her hand. The head of the scepter glowed with a bright reddish hue, and then on it, a fireball formed. The heat was so intense it made the air shimmer around the fireball. Cassandra conjured a tornado and hurled it at the prince. As the tornado was about to hit the target, Vena threw the fireball at the tornado. The fireball did not explode but merged with the tornado, making it grow bigger and turn into a swirling mass of fire.
Luceran's expression did not change as he watched the fiery tornado. He then pointed his finger at the tornado, and a gush of wind started swirling. Tiny snowflakes started appearing as the wind kept on swirling on his finger. Suddenly the wind shot at the tornado and exploded. The chilly tornado clashed with the fiery one, canceling each other out and just disappearing.
The ground then trembled, and a few massive figures rose from the ground. Their bodies were made of pure rock. As the golems formed perfectly, Rhody started to pant and looked tired as he used most of his mana to summon the creatures. Four stone golems standing at three meters tall started circling around Luceran and attacking him, charging him with their massive bodies.
While the golems were charging the prince, fiery sparks started swirling on the arena as they formed into pointy-bodied creatures with broad shoulders and hornlike heads. Their bodies were made of lava and fire and stood tall, almost twice the height of a grown man. Four fire elementals formed perfectly and started throwing fireballs the size of a coconut at the prince.
The prince did a quick gesture with his hand, and a transparent bluish wall formed around him, blocking the fireballs of the fire elementals, while multiple stone pillars burst from the ground, slamming the bodies of the earth elementals. Then with a sweep of his hand, a powerful gust of wind struck the group of five. Despite the fast reaction of Cassandra in casting 'Wind Wall,' the 'Wind Cutter' cast by Luceran sliced the wall of wind and hit all of them, knocking them a few meters away.
Giving them no time to recover, Luceran leapt into the air and hovered over the arena. He clasped his hands together, and a concentrated disk of fire formed. While Luceran was busy with his spell, the group of five stood and stabilized themselves. Even from a distance, they could feel the intense power emanating from the disk of fire. Their faces went solemn and tense.
"Prar and I will focus on defense. Josh and Rhody will channel their mana to us to strengthen the defense, while Vena will prepare a counterattack," Cassandra gave a command to her team.
The disk of fire swirled into the group of five. Reacting to the prince's attack, Cassandra exhausted all her mana and formed a concentrated 'Wind Spear,' while Prar formed a ten-meter-high 'Force Wall.' As Rhody and Josh channeled their mana, the 'Wind Spear' and 'Force Wall' grew bigger and more solid.
The 'Wind Spear' slammed the disk of fire, though despite the blast, it failed to stop it. But it did manage to slow it down. The disk of fire continued until it reached the 'Force Wall.' The struggle of power lasted for a few seconds until the 'Force Wall' shattered and the fire disk vanished into thin air. Suddenly a piercing bolt of lightning shot out of the smoke, aiming at the prince.
The prince smiled lightly and conjured a 'Fire Spear' and shot it at the bolt of lightning. The two spells collided in a massive blast of fire and lightning that hid him from view. When the smoke cleared, the prince was gone. Then, out of nowhere, earthen walls burst from the ground, trapping each one of them.
"You have lost," Luceran said to the group of five. Hearing the prince's response, the five released a heavy sigh and slumped to the ground.
"Not bad for an unaffiliated group of mages that had no educational background from any prestigious academy or magic school," he said flatly.
Despite their full effort, they did not manage to put a scratch on him. After all, he was at the early stage of Mana Engraving, not to mention that he had carved three runes on his mana core, while all of them were still at the Mana Core realm. That was the gap between major realms.
"The payment will stay the same because you failed to land a spell on me," he mentioned the deal again to them. "But should you join my army, I will train you using the Immortal Academy's method and broaden your horizon of the Arcana Path. There will be times when you visit other regions of Primordia or even realms outside of Primordia. The choice is up to you. I will give you a day to consider." Then he flew out of the barrack, leaving the group of five contemplating his words.