A Fateful Battle

The competition had finally arrived. The missing legendary mage finally returned to the Deepblue just the night before, allowing the grand mages to heave a sigh of relief that they wouldnt have to postpone the event. This competition was no doubt one of the most important affairs of the Deepblue in recent times, and as time passed more and more people had started placing bets on the match. Although the competition was of a more personal nature and between Richard and Steven alone, the title of inheritor to Sharons runecrafting expertise was enough to attract public attention.

Once she arrived in the Deepblue, the legendary mage immediately called for a meeting with all the grand mages. Her brows were knitted, an obvious indication of her ill mood. This prompted all the grand mages present to sit still, and not engage with her. Sharon waited and waited for her snack to be served. When the dark-skinned slave finally came, she was surprised to see that the golden basin only consisted of a pathetic amount and variety of fruits and her favourites were all missing.

She relaxed her furrowed brows, raising a single one, What is this? Where are all my fruits?

Blackgold came around her immediately and muttered, All sold.

Impossible! I had enough stock for half a year! she raised her voice.

Mountainseas appetite is larger than yours, Master. And she has already been eating them for 3 months now, so there isnt much left in the stock now, Blackgold reported carefully.

Why is she still here? Sharons voice turned icy-cold. But the gray dwarf was long prepared, as he handed her two receipts, This is the amount of money weve earned just from the fruit sale alone. And this is her overall spending in the Deepblue.

Sharons expression did look a lot better after looking the receipts. Earning money almost always made her happy, even if it was just an extra gold coin, and Blackgold knew that very well. Nonetheless, these earnings did not make her as delighted as expected, and even her hard work out there for these two months did not lift her spirits a bit.

Sharon had actually obtained an Isla diamond in her two months away, something equal to her annual expenses. But that hadnt brought her happiness either, and the reason was simple: the more she earned, the more she saw the difference between Mountainseas wealth and her own.

The sulky legendary mage put down the receipts after praising Blackgold and asked, Hows the preparation for tomorrows battle?

All the preparations are done. We were only awaiting Your Excellency.

Alright, lets begin on time. It doesnt seem like I could get anymore out of Solam either, and Im excited to see what kind of surprise my little Richard is going to bring me.

Your Excellency, should we make any prior preparations? The gray dwarf asked with precaution.

Preparations? What preparations? The legendary mage was slightly flabbergasted. She was already ready to leave as she stood up, but she could tell Blackgold was trying to hint at something and it seemed bizarre. How can my little Richard lose?

Blackgold had no choice but to be more straightforward about what he was trying to say, But the Solam Family is fully supporting Steven. Even if he made his runes himself, the designs come from Saint Klaus. Richard has been exploring things himself, and never asked for any help from either his family or Mountainsea.

Didnt Mountainsea give him a piece of fire dragon neck hide? Sharon asked coldly.

He stowed that skin away, and did not even touch it, Blackgold explained.

That made Sharon a little happier, and something like a smile almost immediately spread across her face. She stretched lazily and said, Dont worry, Saint Klaus is a piece of trash that only know how to follow rules with no creativity at all. He wont ever become a proper great runemaster his entire life, and he wont be able to design anything impressive. I already took him into consideration when I was setting the topic. Even if there were thirty more Saints behind his name he still wont be able to win with Stevens abilities.

Blackgold realised that Sharon knew nothing about Richards design, and reminded her again, But Richard might not be able to win either!

Sharon was getting annoyed as she waved her hand dismissively and said, Stop complicating matters! However the competition turns out, just announce Richard as the winner, wont that do?

The grey dwarf was stunned upon Sharons words, How do we explain to Solams clan then?

The legendary mage scoffed, Just say Gaton paid more! If Solam has any dissatisfaction he can go straight to him!

The grey dwarfs breath caught in his throat. Before he could even say anything Sharon was already halfway out the door. Judging from her incessant yawns with her fist against her mouth she was likely going to go sleep. Blackgold couldnt do anything but agree with her for the time being.

The peaceful night passed quickly, the battle set to start at nine the following morning. The venue was a personal experiment arena of Sharons, and apart from the participants themselves only she and the other grand mages were present on scene. Mountainsea was seated next to Richard as a supporter of his, with Urazadzu, Steelrock, and her guards behind her.

The Solams had protested against this to Blackgold, saying Mountainsea and other unrelated personnel shouldnt be present since the battle wasnt public. They claimed that they wouldnt know at all if Urazadzu killed Stevens snow rabbit in the dark.

But those allegations were shot down mercilessly. Blackgold told them that Mountainsea was still a student of Sharons, and that they shouldnt look down on the Deepblue. Even if the Solam Family members present here couldnt tell, Sharon and the other grand mages present could. The dwarfs imposing manner left Steven feeling in the wrong.

Besides, Steven and his family wouldnt have dared to go against even the grey dwarf openly, more so let Mountainsea know about their unhappiness. Both the legendary mage and Mountainsea were considered superior powers, and regardless of the outcome of this battle offending either would affect Duke Solams entire life and future. Itd be even more risky now that everyone knew about Mountainseas background.

The entrance of the winter wolf into the arena signified the start of the battle. Theyd drawn ballots, and Steven was the first to step up. Walking towards the arena, he solemnly lifted the cloth covering his cages entrance and opened the door. Outside stepped the snow rabbit that the Solams and Saint Klaus had poured their blood and sweat into for the past half year.

What shocked everyone was that the snow rabbit was as large as a hunting hound.