The world was dark and Wise could not see a thing. All he could hear was the footsteps of the Orks as they carried his 'unconscious' body past a strange path.
'To think they would try to poison me.'
Dragons had a high immunity to regular poisons, most of them even being completely ineffective against them.
To keep his identity as Wise hidden, he had acted out the part of a poisoned fool who had been tricked by the queen.
'Well, this should be fun.'
"Do we get to kill him yet?" Asked one of the Orks, his voice gruff as he spoke.
"Not yet. Don't you know he works for that horrid dragon?"
'Horrid? What is so horrid about me?' Wise wondered.
"Dragon this, dragon that. That is the same thing you guys said when that puny dragonoid came around."
"If you ask me, we should have tied the little sucker up and had lizard meat for dinner, hehee."
The Orks all laughed as they continued walking.
"Besides…" the same Ork continued. "Isn't he just a baby dragon?"
One of them scoffed. "Baby dragon or not, I don't want anything that breathes fires remotely close to me."
'This one is pretty smart.'
He paused.
"If it was up to me, I'd say we throw this guy in the lake and act like he never arrived."
'Eh? What the hell?!'
"We can't do that, it is not the Ork way to show cowardice." Said another.
'Thank you!' Wise thought.
"What about the girls he came over with?"
"Those three? The queen is keeping them at her place."
"They are the only leverage she has over the dragon."
It was not a bad way of thinking, it seemed even with her rash methods the queen was pretty calculating.
'At least I know they are safe.'
The conversation stopped after that, only to continue after they had walked for a few minutes.
This time it was a feminine voice, the only one Wise had heard since the journey started.
"What do you think the queen is going to do to him? Did he really ask for the princess?"
"Hmm, the queen is going to—" the voice stopped and the Orks suddenly came to a halt.
"P-princess." He stuttered.
"Take him inside and tie him up," Aofie said before walking past them.
'Wait, What?'
Moments later, Wise found himself dangling upside down from the ceiling in a rather stuffy room.
His eyes remained closed as he heard the sound of the door creaking open and two footsteps.
"Leave us."
Splash!
Aofie emptied a bucket of cold water right in his face, soaking up his hair and clothes in an instant.
Playing his role to perfection, Wise gasped and his eyes shot wide open, staring at the room while looking confused.
His body was wrapped up in chains from his chest down to his feet, with a particularly thicker chain holding him up.
The room was small and poorly lit with only a single oil lamp standing on a shelf by the side, doing its best to abate the darkness.
Save for that shelf, the only other piece of furniture was a black wooden chair that had seen better days.
And right underneath him—
Of course there was a large visible blood stain.
'Orks!' Wise sighed inwardly.
"This isn't the soft bed I was promised, Agatha."
The queen could not contain her laughter at the way he spoke her name with such disregard.
"Sorry, is it not to your liking?"
Wise shrugged causing the chain holding him up to rattle slightly.
"Eh, it's pretty comfortable once you get past the smell of blood and the overall horrid aesthetic of the room."
"Let's get to business shall we? Or do you plan on keeping me like this forever?"
Agatha walked up to her chair and sat down, while Aofie stepped forward cracking her knuckles.
"This is my favourite part." She said with a twisted smile on her face.
She looked like a tiger ready to pounce on her prey, Wise could swear he saw her lick her lips once...
"Now, now dear. We have to give him a chance to answer first. Xenthos, what does your lord wish to do with my daughter?"
Wise stared blankly at Agatha.
"Well… eat her of course. Isn't that what all dragons do with princesses?"
Boom!
A heavy blow crashed into his gut causing him to rock back and forth.
It was not particularly painful but Wise made sure to act as though he was holding back the pain.
"Torture eh?" He glanced at Aofie. "I hear girls are into wild stuff these days, didn't think you would be one of them."
Aofie's face contorted in rage and another blow followed the first causing the chain to rattle even louder.
Wise tried his best to hold back his laughter only to let out a small stifle.
She was probably holding back her punches because she felt she would kill him if she used too much force.
Because of this, it felt as though he was being hit by a child, a strong child but a child nonetheless.
It only went to show that she was sorely underestimating his strength.
"Come on princess, put your back into it!"
"You sure talk tough, but here you are dangling from your feet." She shot back.
Wise shrugged, as much as the chain would allow.
"So how would you rate me? Would you say I am doing a good job?" He winked
Aofie gritted her teeth in annoyance.
Deciding that there was no point in toying with her any longer, Wise decided to answer their question.
But as he opened his mouth to speak—
"Don't cry princess, having kink is nothing to be ashamed of." He cooed.
"I'm not crying! And I don't have a kink!" She practically screamed, her face turning red from anger.
Wise couldn't stop himself from laughing.
As his body rocked back and forth, Wise continued to laugh while the princess simmered in rage.
Agatha on the other hand was restraining a smile it seemed she was enjoying this just as much as him.
Aofie stopped the rocking motion. "What is wrong with you? Stop laughing!" She screamed.
"Okay… hahaha… ok…haha... Alright, alright." Wise finally managed to stop, a tear forming in his eyes.
"I'll tell you what you want to know. My lord had no ill intentions like you suspect, all he wants to do is take Aofie as his student, he wants to train her."
Now it was the queen's turn to laugh. "Train her? It seems your baby dragon has gotten quite full of himself."
"How can I even be sure he knows what he is doing when his student is looking so helpless right in front of us?"
Wise smirked and stared right into the queen's eyes, his gaze unwavering. "Is that a challenge?"
"What if it is?" The queen asked.
Aofie scoffed, brimming with confidence. "You really want to challenge me?"
"If that is what it takes to deliver you to him, then sure."
"If I manage to beat you, it would be proof of Wise's strength and you will come with me unconditionally."
"…No matter the circumstances surrounding my victory. Do we have a deal?"
The queen rose from her chair.
"Sounds good to me. But I have one little condition…"
"I still have doubts about your strength so to fight Aofie, you have to first defeat everyone in the tournament."
"And you're in luck, the power games start tomorrow."
Her next words were laced with a tingle of excitement. She walked over to Wise and stared him in the eyes.
Then her aura exploded forward, engulfing the entire room and causing Wise's hair to billow backward just from the intensity of the outburst.
It felt as though he was standing right in front of an ancient domineering fiend, one that could crush her opponents with as little as a flick of her wrists.
It was an aura that could have only been built up with years of discipline and consistent practice…
An impressive display.
"If you lose at any point during the battle…" She smiled deviously. "You will be executed."
Aofie smirked. "So what will it be, Xenny?" She asked, her tone mocking.
Wise let out a dragged sigh. "Yeah, yeah, we have a deal."
He flexed his muscles, pushing his arms against the tightly bound chains and suddenly, the chains exploded, shattering steel in all directions.
The remnants of the chain rung on contact with the floor, just as Wise landed on his feet.
He cracked his neck. "That was so uncomfortable. Alright. When do we get started?"
Aofie looked surprised at first but that surprise soon turned to excitement.
'Could he be the one?' A thought crept into her mind. 'Nah, this fool can't possibly beat me, not in a thousand years.'