The Royal Knight stood tall in the center of the huge arena. His red and gold uniform shone in the sunlight.
After a quiet moment, he spoke to the thousands of watching people again. His voice sounded loud and clear all across the stadium, thanks to magic helping it travel.
"This Trial of Worthiness," he announced loudly, "will be one single match!" He paused, making everyone listen closely.
"To prove himself, Prince Eric will have to face not one, but three different challengers!" He let that news sink in.
"These challengers are experts in the skills that threaten our kingdom the most: a master Swordsman, a powerful Magician, and a sneaky Assassin!"
A wave of noise went through the crowd. People gasped and started whispering excitedly. Three opponents? All at once? Or one after the other? Even fighting them one by one sounded super hard.
The Knight held up his hand to quiet everyone down. He looked serious. "The rules for passing this trial are tough!" he said.
"Prince Eric has two choices: either he survives in this arena for thirty minutes straight, dealing with whatever happens..."
He paused and looked right at Eric. "...Or he has to beat all three of his opponents before the thirty minutes are up!"
More murmurs spread through the crowd, louder this time. People looked shocked. Facing three expert fighters alone? That sounded impossible! Even a trained soldier would have trouble.
For a young prince known for being weak, with everyone watching him... it seemed like he had no chance. Like it was designed for him to fail.
Many nobles looked at each other, thinking this was just the court's way of getting rid of his disappointing prince.
The Royal Knight narrowed his eyes and pointed a finger towards the arena floor around Eric.
"Be warned!" he shouted. "This arena," he waved his hand around the big empty space,
"isn't just flat ground like it looks now. It's filled with old magic and lots of hidden traps and dangers! Sharp blades might shoot up from the floor! The ground itself could move or change shape when you least expect it! There are magic traps, tricks to fool your eyes, and obstacles hidden everywhere – all put here by our experts to test not just how strong you are... but how smart you are! How aware! How well you can think on your feet!"
Eric stood quietly in the middle of it all, listening carefully. He didn't show any reaction to the super tough rules or the dangerous arena.
He didn't flinch or look scared, even though Adam, listening in from inside, could feel Eric's heart pounding like crazy.
Eric just took a slow, deep breath and held his sword tighter. He knew it would be hard, but this sounded way harder than he thought.
Meanwhile, inside Eric's mind, hidden away in his dark, empty space, Adam watched everything calmly.
He was sitting comfortably on the sofa he had made earlier, watching the whole show through Eric's eyes like it was on TV.
He noticed how the crowd reacted, heard the knight's dramatic announcements, and felt Eric's hidden fear. It was all just stuff happening.
But then—all of a sudden—a shimmering light appeared right in front of Adam in the darkness. It was soft and glowing, like moonlight.
A figure slowly formed out of the light. It looked graceful and glowed bright blue, kind of like a person but made of shifting energy instead of a solid body.
It was Millenia.
Her showing up was like dropping a pebble into calm water in his quiet space. She looked different now – less like a floating computer screen, more like a real presence.
She wasn't looking at Adam at first; she seemed totally focused on the outside world, like she was studying every detail of the arena and the trial.
Adam immediately stopped thinking about the outside world and focused on her. He blinked, surprised she just showed up like that in this new form. He hadn't called her.
"Millenia?" he asked, sounding curious. "What's up? Did something happen?"
Millenia turned her glowing body towards him. The energy making up her "face" seemed to focus, like she was looking right at him. She bowed her head respectfully, which looked surprisingly elegant for someone made of light. "Master," her voice sounded soft in his domain, still like a robot but maybe a little smoother now,
"I think I might have figured something out. I've been carefully studying Prince Eric's body – his weaknesses, how his energy flows, how the seal holding you works, and the magic energy in the trial arena... and I've come up with a possible plan."
She paused for a second. "It's risky, Master," she went on, her blue light pulsing a little.
"A lot of things could go wrong, and I can't promise it will work. It might even make things worse for you or for Eric. But—if it works like I think it might—it could be the fastest way to weaken the seal enough for you to get free from inside him, at least for a little while."
Adam's eyes, which had been watching calmly, suddenly lit up with interest. The idea of escaping, even just temporarily, sounded amazing.
For a second, his usual cool look disappeared, replaced by a small, genuinely excited smile. He felt a rush of hope, or maybe just anticipation.
"A way out, huh?" he repeated, thinking about it. He stood up from the dark sofa, stretching his arms and legs like he was shaking off sleep or old chains. "Finally, some potentially good news."
He turned to face Millenia's glowing form. "Alright then, Millenia. Don't make me wait. Tell me. What's this risky, brilliant plan you came up with?"
The scene quickly jumped back to the outside world, back to what Eric was seeing in the sunny stadium. He was still standing strong, sword ready, alone in the middle of the huge arena, waiting for the trial to really start. The crowd watched him quietly, waiting too.
Suddenly, the Royal Knight who had explained the rules, now standing off to the side, dropped to one knee. He slammed his open hand flat against the shiny stone floor.
"Formation! Activate!"
His command echoed loudly and felt kind of magical, like a deep vibration went through the air. Right away, the arena floor started to shake hard.
Deep rumbling sounds came from underground, like giant machines were turning on. The smooth stone floor started to crack and move.
Big pieces twisted, tilted up, and rose out of the ground, forming walls and blocking paths where it was flat just moments before. Jagged stone walls shot up from hidden slots in the floor.
But that wasn't all. From other hidden places in the floor, real trees – tall and leafy – suddenly grew upwards super fast, their roots somehow locking into the moving ground.
In just seconds, parts of the arena turned into a thick, fake forest, making lots of confusing shadows.
Other parts of the floor buckled upwards, forming rocky cliffs and high ledges. The whole flat arena turned into a tricky, changing landscape full of places to hide and set traps in less than a minute.
Eric stumbled when the ground moved under him but quickly got his balance back. He didn't yell or freak out. His eyes got a little wider seeing how fast and crazy the transformation was, but he didn't back away.
He'd seen drawings of this happening when he studied for the trial with Roald. He knew the arena could change.
So, even though it was scary, the sudden chaos didn't completely shake him. He stood his ground, holding his sword tight, his eyes quickly looking around, trying to figure out the new dangerous layout.
Back inside Eric's soul, in the dark space, Adam now stood next to Millenia's glowing form. He had listened carefully as she quickly explained her complicated plan.
It involved messing with Eric's tiny bit of energy, using the magic energy of the adam itself, and maybe using the seal holding Adam during a moment of extreme stress or power use.
It was complex, dangerous, and needed perfect timing. But it was a chance. He turned his attention back outward, feeling the arena shake through Eric's feet, seeing the land change shape.
A confident smile spread across Adam's face.
"Good plan, Millenia," Adam said, sounding excited. "Risky, yeah, but I like it. I'm ready when you are." He felt his own power building up inside him, ready to burst out the second Millenia gave the signal.
"The moment you start your part… messing with his energy, making the opening… I'll start mine. I'll hit the seal with everything I have when the time is right. Together," he declared, looking at Millenia, "we'll break me out of here. Even if it's just for a little bit."
He cracked his knuckles – it didn't make a sound since he didn't have a real body, but it felt good. He then clapped his hands together once, the sound sharp in the quietness of his domain.
"Alright," he said, his eyes shining with determination. "Let's get free."
Out in the arena, the ground finally stopped shaking. The crazy transformation was done.
The Royal Knight who had started it stood up, dusted off his knee, and walked away from the newly formed battlefield towards the steps leading up to the royal balcony.
Every single person in the huge stadium, thousands of them, now turned their eyes towards the man sitting in the center of the royal box. Towards the King.
King Noor IV sat very still for a long moment. He looked calm and kingly as always, his face hard to read. The fate of his youngest son, the official start of this important trial, depended on his signal.
The stadium was absolutely silent, buzzing with anticipation. Then, slowly, carefully, he lifted his right hand. It was a simple movement, but everyone knew it meant something huge.
"Let the trial… begin." His voice was calm and steady, easily heard across the silent arena even without magic helping it. It was the voice of someone completely in charge.
The silence somehow got even heavier for a second. The moment was finally here.
Down on the arena floor, which was now a confusing maze of walls, trees, and cliffs, Eric took one last look up at his father on the royal balcony. No words were said between them.
The King didn't nod. Eric didn't look pleading. No emotions showed on their faces, at least not from far away. Just one last, silent look, heavy with all the history and disappointment between them.
Then, Eric firmly turned his attention away from his family and the watching crowd. He focused completely on the challenge right in front of him—the fake, trap-filled maze he was standing in.
The battlefield felt dangerous and uncertain, and he knew his opponents would appear soon. He tightened his grip on his sword until the leather handle creaked quietly. His knuckles were white. His breathing was shallow, but he kept it steady.
Then, quietly—so quietly that only he, and Adam listening from inside him, could possibly hear it—he whispered into the air.
"Millenia… are you ready?" He wasn't really asking the System he thought was his own power; it was more like checking in, one last time before jumping into the unknown.
Almost right away, a faint shimmer flickered in the air right in front of him, like seeing heat waves on a hot day. Millenia appeared for a split second in her glowing blue spirit form, visible only to Eric, completely invisible to the thousands of people watching him.
"I am ready, Eric," her voice sounded gentle and calm inside his head. "I am sending extra energy into your body now. It will temporarily make you stronger, faster, and give you quicker reflexes than you normally have. Get ready… it starts now."
As Millenia's voice faded in his mind, Eric felt a strange warmth spread through his body, starting in his chest and moving out to his arms and legs. It felt like warm liquid energy tingling under his skin.
He suddenly felt lighter, stronger, and like his senses were sharper.
The world looked clearer, and sounds seemed louder. A soft blue glow seemed to wrap around him for just a second before disappearing.
He closed his eyes for a brief moment, took a deep breath, and tried to let go of the pressure from everyone watching, his father's judgment, and the shadows of his brothers.
This trial wasn't just about him anymore. It wasn't just a test for a weak prince trying to avoid being kicked out. With Millenia helping him, with Adam hidden inside, and with a risky plan about to happen...
This was the start of something totally new. Something big was about to change. And nobody, not even Eric himself, knew exactly how it was going to turn out.