Chapter 54: Almost Going Mad

"Maybe you could coat your weapon with Gwenor first, then use fire afterward. Since they’re both your energies, they shouldn’t destroy each other." Aura advised.

Chris’s eyes widened at the idea.

"How didn’t I think of that!?"

He immediately used Gwenor, and the sword was instantly coated in pure white energy. After that, he used his fire elemental mana to surround it.

"IT WORKS!"

The flames surrounded the weapon without damaging it at all. He waited for a minute, and seeing that the weapon wasn’t deforming, he became even more excited.

He tried putting more mana into it, making the flames around the sword burn even stronger. And still, the sword remained perfectly intact.

"Excellent! With this, my attack power has increased by leaps and bounds!"

He couldn’t have been happier. Just as he was celebrating his success...

*TSSSS!*

The sword began to screech and bend.

"Shit!" He immediately stopped what he was doing and let the sword cool down.

The technique hadn’t failed, but it required better control. He instantly understood what was happening.

His Gwenor needed to be at the same output as his fire elemental mana. It was easy to control when the fire wasn’t too powerful, but when he increased it to its limits, the balance would fail, damaging the sword.

"Sigh... Guess I’ll still need to practice."

With that, he started practicing his control over Gwenor and fire elemental mana, trying to keep them at the same level.

...

Outside Chris’s room, Aelonen, Kelvin, and the others had gathered.

"Prince Aelonen, tell us more about your friend. How did you meet him, and what’s he like?" Prince Kelvin eagerly asked.

"This... I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you. The elders of our elven tribe ordered me not to disclose the details of how we know him." Aelonen replied regretfully while scratching his head.

The others became even more interested upon hearing that. It seemed the guy even knew the elders of the elven tribe, which was shocking.

As a member of Narta’s royal family, Kelvin had extensive knowledge about the elves and their history, but even he didn’t know the leaders of the tribe. Only his father, the king, and the previous rulers of Narta were allowed to meet or contact the elders of the elven tribe directly.

The others, as members of his party and his protector Derek, also knew about the existence of elves, but they had been strictly warned not to spread that information, or they could even be executed.

Finding out that another human besides the King of Narta knew the elders was greatly shocking.

"I understand. We won’t force you to disclose that. Then, could you tell us about his personality? What’s he like? I’d like to get to know him better so I can avoid accidentally offending him," Kelvin asked.

"I guess I can tell you a bit about that. I haven’t known him for very long, but from what I’ve learned about him, he’s very straightforward and honest. He won’t use lies or tricks against others, so you don’t need to worry about being deceived or tricked by him. Oh, and he’s also a battle maniac! He’s even more obsessed with training than you are, Prince Kelvin." Aelonen shuddered as he said the last part, but the others didn’t notice.

"Really? That’s excellent! It’s good to meet someone who enjoys training and fighting as much as I do! I should ask him for a duel sometime." Kelvin became excited.

Aelonen shuddered even more. "NO! You shouldn’t do that! Don’t ever ask him for a spar!"

Kelvin looked confused. "Eh? Why?"

"He’s just too strong." Aelonen shook his head. "And he doesn’t seem to know how to hold back. I’m afraid he’ll accidentally kill you."

Kelvin raised an eyebrow. "What? Are you underestimating me, Prince Aelonen? I’ll have you know that I haven’t stopped training since our last meeting. This time, our fight might not end in a tie."

Aelonen shook his head. "Even if you manage to beat me, you won’t be able to fight him. Just a few days ago, he defeated me with a single finger and a punch. I almost died, even though he held back a lot." He unconsciously grabbed his stomach. He could still feel the pain from that punch whenever he thought about it. "And don’t think you can beat me just because you’ve been training! I’ve been training too, and I’m sure I’ll beat you the next time we fight!"

"Really? Is he that strong?" Everyone’s eyes widened. They all knew Aelonen was exceptionally strong for someone of their generation. He had even fought Kelvin to a draw the last time they met, and Kelvin was recognized as one of the most talented people of his generation in the entire country.

"He fought my big sister to a draw just a few days ago. And I think that if the fight had continued, he would have won." Aelonen shook his head.

"Your big sister? The one who’s about to become the ruler of your tribe? The one you said was the strongest person of our generation and countless times stronger than you?"

"Yes, that big sister." Aelonen nodded.

"But I remember that the last time we met, you said your big sister was trapped in a secret dungeon somewhere and that you hadn’t seen her in a long time. Did she manage to get out?" Kelvin asked with interest.

"Yes, she got out just recently. She’s even stronger now than she was before." Aelonen nodded proudly.

"It’s good that she’s back! I’m happy for you, my friend." Kelvin spoke sincerely before sighing in regret. "If she weren’t so hidden and protected by your tribe, I’d love to meet such a genius."

"Maybe one day. Who knows?" Aelonen smiled.

"Anoo... Prince Aelonen, does Chris have a girlfriend?" Kenna suddenly asked.

Aelonen displayed an awkward expression. "I’m not entirely sure, but it seemed like my sister and he had something going on between them. They didn’t seem to mind much when I called him brother-in-law."

Everyone’s eyes widened. Being connected in such a way to the future ruler of the elven tribe would be anyone’s dream.

Kenna just laughed awkwardly. How could she compete with that?

"S-sister, please be more reserved," Denna quietly advised her from the side.

...

Three days later, at the foot of a mountain somewhere deep inside the Kingdom of Narta.

"Prince Aelonen, could you please notify your protector? We’re about to arrive at our destination," Kelvin said.

"Oh, finally! I’ll call him." He stood up and happily skipped towards the door of Chris’s room.

He carefully knocked.

"Big brother, we’re about to arrive."

Hearing no reply or sounds from inside, he knocked again.

"Big brother, can you hear me?"

Still, there was no reply. He began to feel that something was wrong.

"I’m coming in, big brother. Sorry for the intrusion!" he said more loudly before carefully pushing the door open.

"WHA— AGHHHH!"

*BOOM!*

Everyone turned towards the explosion that suddenly erupted.

Aelonen flew backward and slammed into the wall on the other side of the vehicle.

"Prince Aelonen, are you alright!? What happened?" Everyone immediately surrounded him.

"Cough! Cough! Cough!" Aelonen coughed violently. His clothes looked half-burned, and his skin was black as charcoal.

"Denna, quickly heal him!"

"Y-YES!"

*Woosh!*

His body was instantly enveloped in a green light, and within moments, he was completely healed.

"T-thank you. I’m fine now." He thanked her before slowly standing up.

"What happened?" Kelvin asked.

Aelonen simply looked towards Chris’s room, fear visible in his eyes. Everyone else followed his gaze.

What they saw frightened them all.

Chris was standing right outside the doorway of his room, but he looked completely different.

His entire body was enveloped in crimson flames that seemed to be alive, melting the floor beneath him and scorching the surrounding walls.

He was wearing what looked like black armor made of scales. His eyes were bloodshot, with narrow slits in his pupils. They resembled the eyes of a reptile more than those of a human.

"B-Big brother! What happened to you!?" Aelonen yelled.

Seeing no response from Chris, he shouted even louder.

"BIG BROTHER!"

"WHAT!?" Chris turned towards him with his bloodshot eyes, making Aelonen flinch in fear. His voice was hoarse and deep, sounding terrifying.

"N-Nothing!"

Chris looked at him for a moment before finally coming back to his senses. He deactivated his fire mana and the dragon scales, then released a deep breath. Within seconds, his eyes slowly returned to normal.

’Sigh... It’s not as easy as I thought.’

He had spent most of the journey practicing his new technique. He had acted like a madman the entire time.

Even though Aura had repeatedly warned him not to overdo it, explaining that his irritation would only grow and make it even harder to control the technique, he hadn’t listened. He had continued practicing until he had nearly lost his mind.

"Sorry about that. I was quite angry about something and failed to control myself. Are you alright?" he asked Aelonen in his normal voice.

"I-I’m fine, big brother. Don’t worry. It’s good that you’re alright now."

Chris gave everyone an apologetic smile. "I’m sorry, everyone. I got too engrossed in practicing a certain technique and became irritated."

"So it’s because of training!" Kelvin understood. "I get you, my friend! I know how it feels when you try too hard and things don’t go your way."

Kelvin had experienced something similar before, as he was also obsessed with training.

Chris nodded. "Thank you. I’ll compensate you for the damages." He looked around, noticing that he had ruined nearly half of the armored vehicle with his outburst.

"There is no need for that." Kelvin shook his head. "I’m a prince, remember? If there’s one thing I don’t lack, it’s money."

Chris shook his head. "Still, I insist." He tossed a small crystal towards Kelvin.

He caught it and examined it. In the next moment, his eyes widened.

"An Energy Crystal? This is far too valuable! This entire vehicle isn’t worth as much as this crystal. I can’t accept it."

"Just take it. I’m quite rich myself, even if I don’t look like it." Chris smiled.

"...Okay, then." Kelvin nodded and stored the crystal away.

"So, have we arrived? What’s next?" Chris asked.

"Yes, we arrived just in time. Next, we need to register our party for entry, and then we wait. We should be able to enter the dungeon in a few hours."

"Let’s get going, then."

They all exited the vehicle, and Chris looked around.

They were standing in an open field beneath the mountain. There were no roads or buildings nearby.

In the distance, he could see many parked vehicles scattered around the area, along with several large tents. Dozens of people were gathered there, and armed guards were stationed everywhere.

Along the way, many people recognized Prince Kelvin and greeted him with a bow.

"Greetings, Third Prince!"

"Good to see you, Third Prince!"

Kelvin simply nodded to them all and continued leading his group towards the largest tent in the center.

Aelonen was wearing a cloak with a hood pulled over his head. It seemed he was hiding his identity as an elf, which was to be expected.

When they arrived in front of the tent, the guards standing outside bowed and opened the way for Kelvin and his group.

"Welcome, Third Prince!"

After entering, they were greeted by numerous guards and officials. A large table stood in the center, where three old men were seated.

Approaching the table, Kelvin pulled what looked like a golden badge from his pocket and showed it to them.

"There is no need for confirmation, Third Prince. Please sign your name here and provide the names of your party members."

"Hoho? Isn’t that my little brother? It’s so good to see you here."

Suddenly, a male voice came from behind. His words sounded warm, but there was an unmistakable hint of mockery in them.