The Last Black Dragon

Chapter 2

Thraia

"Everyone, check the whole palace. We don't know if there are more of them lurking in the shadows. Healing team, go to the nobles attending this celebration and check their conditions," Captain Frederick ordered his team.

"Yes sir!" Everyone answered in unison. Soon, they started to scatter and some of them went inside the teleportation circle and I assumed they were transported to different areas of the palace to check everything. It seems that the enemy's targets are the royal family, so as long as they are surrounded by talented mages and knights, there's nothing to worry about.

"Father, is there anything I can do about this incident?" I heard Frynch ask. Captain Frederick shook his head.

"You can only assist me directly after you graduate from the academy. For now, you go home and my team will take care of everything," Frynch nodded with a disappointed look. Captain Frederick looked at me.

"You guys did great to help the royal family. No one got hurt thanks to you both. I am looking forward to working with the two of you in the future." Captain Frederick smiled at me and he looked at his son with a proud face.

I saluted. "Thank you Captain."

"Well then, I have to go now." he waved his hand at us. The other mage, who happens to possess an ability to teleport, starts to transport everyone in the Captain's team to their headquarters.

In the next moment, the mages are gone along with the captured elf. The banquet is still in a messy state. There were more royal knights present in the area to protect the royal family while the royal servants started to clean the mess.

"I have to thank you for what you did earlier," a voice from behind me.

"Your highness," Frynch bowed, and I also did the same the moment I turned to look at Prince Azrael.

"It was natural to do it, your highness. As a future warrior of this kingdom, it is our duty to protect the royal family from any kinds of threats." I answered while my head was still low.

"You both can now stand properly," Prince Azrael ordered, and we obeyed.

"It's unfortunate that this attack happened on my special day. Good thing no one got hurt," he added.

"Yeah," Frynch answered.

I wanted to know the details of this attack but, as the Captain said, we cannot do anything unless we are officially warriors in this kingdom. I bit my lip in frustration and looked around the mess. Suddenly I remembered something.

"I have to go find my mother and my brother," I said. I bowed down once again to the prince and hurriedly went outside. The nobles were running towards the main palace entrance, so I assumed they were already there. Good thing only one enemy showed up.

"Thraia!" A voice in the crowd called my name the moment I stepped outside. It was my brother. He was with my mother, who had a worried expression. As soon as she saw me, she quickly approached me.

"Are you all right? How do you feel? Did you get hurt?" she asked and started to check on me for wounds and scratches.

"Mother, I'm totally fine," I assured her. Ever since father died, she has become too worried about me after I decided to be a warrior in this kingdom. She fears that I would end up leaving her and my brother. That is why I trained a lot to get a healthy body and be strong enough to handle battle situations. I want to show her that I can become the best mage in this kingdom.

"Are you sure?" she asked once again.

"I promise I wasn't hurt. Captain Frederick approached on time, so there wasn't any battle happened. Besides, we all know that elves are weaker than us mages." I answered.

"That's good. They said that we would be taking a teleportation circle to bring all the nobles home one by one to ensure that everyone gets home safe. I nodded and looked around. The nobles were taken home one by one.

When we got home, my brother took my mother to her room so she could rest. After I changed into comfortable clothes, I immediately grabbed a kerosene lamp and went to our library. My eyes were scanning book by book until I found what I was looking for. A book about elves. I was scanning every page until I heard someone clearing his throat. I looked up and saw my brother standing in the entrance. His hand still holding the door knob.

"It's almost midnight, why are you still up?" he asked.

"I was just reading," I answered. He went inside and grabbed a book from one of the shelves and sat beside me.

"Are you going to do work again?" I asked him. The book he's holding is about politics. He's such a workaholic person since the moment he took over dad's house duties. Mother is the one who takes care of the house events while my brother handles paperwork. I wanted to help them too, but mom insisted on letting me focus on my academics instead.

"Yeah, tomorrow there will be an official meeting about the incident from today, so I wanted to study more so I can be a better head of this household." he answered.

"Don't overwork yourself," I replied while my eyes were back on the book. He didn't answer, so I didn't talk any further. Hours went by and I found myself getting sleepy. I closed the book and got up.

"Good night brother," I said and walked towards the entrance.

"Good night. Sleep well," he replied while not looking at me. He was writing something on the paper, so I didn't bother him any more. I went straight to bed to sleep.

The next day, I was doing my usual training routine. Today is also the day for the selection of members of the tournament. There are two phases of this event. First is the team battle and the second one is the individual battle. This is to test the teamwork of every student, because during the actual battle we will be teamed up according to our strength and the individual battle is to test our abilities one on one.

While I was in the middle of the training, a hologram appeared in front of me, followed by a voice coming from our headmaster.

"Attention to all students. I humbly ask everyone to proceed to the school gymnasium for the member selection of teams. Be sure that everyone is there within 20 minutes. Late comers will be punished." The hologram said the statement twice before it disappeared. I returned the weapons I used to its place and fixed myself before going out of the training room. I inhaled deeply. This is it.

"Good to see you students. Today I will first announce the team leaders followed by the members that I personally choose and will compliment each team." The headmaster is standing on stage along with the professors of every section.

Us, students, were also aligned according to our sections. We were separated into two lines. One line for girls and one line for boys. Frynch is standing beside me while the crown prince Azrael is standing behind him. Yes, the crown prince is still a student like me and in the same section as me. Among the students here, he's the only one who is on par with me when it comes to individual abilities. Sometimes he wins, sometimes I win.

"I will now pick 8 team leaders. All chosen students will stand here on stage." The headmaster snapped his fingers and a paper suddenly appeared.

"Frynch Uddin." Frynch straightened his back. I looked at him and he gave me a "I'll get my revenge" look before he confidently walked onstage.

"Mika Redlock." A girl from a different department walked in the front.

"Thraia Crimson." I inhaled deeply and confidently walked towards the stage. I know I'm gonna be chosen for this. I stood beside the girl named Mika, who just casually smiled at me. I nodded in response. I am not familiar with her. I am usually not good at memorizing faces, but she has been chosen to be a leader, so I assumed she's somehow strong and has good tactical skills.

"Vinci Peterson." Another one from a different section. Unlike Mika, I am very familiar with him. During a tournament event at this academy, I always find his name in the top 4. He is actually quite good, but I haven't tried facing him yet. He usually faces Frynch or the crown prince Azrael in the semi-finals.

"Matt Winston." Another unfamiliar face.

"Collin Vespertine."

"Kyler Dawson."

"Lastly, Azrael Roudan," the crown prince then walked and stood in line with us. He just nodded to all of the chosen leaders before he faced in front.

"Now that the leaders are complete, it is now the time for picking of members," the headmaster waved his hand and created the names of all the students here using his element. He shuffled all the names in the center and everyone was looking at them and anticipating the results. The shuffling stopped and the names then flew towards the front of every chosen leader. There are about 80 graduating students in this academy, including the leaders, so there will be 10 members of each group.

I looked into the names and got Lawrence, Khada, Khael, Hera, Lucien, Nyx, Achilles, Kalix and Venice. The names I'm familiar with are Lucien, Venice and Kalix, who are also a part of my class. The rest are unfamiliar and obviously from different departments.

"Students! Find your names and go to your respective leaders. You have got 3 days to prepare and train for the upcoming tournament. Good luck!" The headmaster bowed at us before he left along with the other professors. The students are now in the different corners of the gymnasium with their groups to talk about the upcoming event. My members are all gathered in front of me and looking at me expectantly. I smiled at them.

"It's nice to meet you everyone. My name is Thraia and I am your leader. My ability is air element," I introduced myself even though I know they knew about me. I did it for formality.

"My name is Lawrence. I use fire,"the guy with the brown hair and glasses waved to everyone.

"My name is Khada and this is my twin brother Khael. We are the Yin and Yang users. Thank you for having us, we will be in your care," the twins bowed in front of me.

"My name is Hera, it's nice to meet all of you. I am a healer" a short-haired girl said.

"I'm Lucien. I can use electricity."

"My name is Nyx, I am a necromancer."

"It's nice to meet you, my name is Achilles. I can control animals around me," he smiled and his dimple surfaced.

"I'm Kalix. I can use power negation. "

"Hello, my name is Venice. I specialize in portal creation."

I nodded and mentally took note of their individual abilities. I will strategize their powers so that I can stretch out their full abilities in this team.

I looked at the other leaders. I think they are also trying to make use of their teammates' abilities to their full potential. Even though I haven't met the other leaders aside from Frynch and Azrael, I cannot look down on them. It's not like I can annihilate their whole team alone. My element still has its weaknesses and so are the abilities of my teammates. We will be training in the next 3 days.

"Alright. Let's meet in the training room number 8 tomorrow morning. We will be having a team training session. Be ready," I said, and they all nodded in determination. Their competitive side is visible in their eyes and I don't want to lose that spark until the actual competition ends.