Point-of-View: Argent Stryker

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"Hm...what exactly are they upto with this? Are the other Nobles all really okay with this?" I muttered with a frown.

"It’s pretty baffling, but it seems to be genuine. This is the fifth edition, and nothing’s gone wrong or given any indication of being a trap even once," Responded Gior with a sigh.

Quite a while has passed since I reunited with Larrk. Today’s the 4th of Martius, 2020, the first month of the new year, and...well, things have been really improving in Obsidian. It’s honestly been kinda unbelievable.

Two years ago, the King stepped down and the Crown Prince, Landis Dianus took his place. And since then, the capital has been making efforts to make life easier for Commoners.

Nobles can no longer enslave Commoners as they wish, a proper investigation is carried out if a Noble tries to enslave a Commoner, and only in the event that a serious crime was carried out by the Commoner will it be approved. Nobles who are caught enslaving Commoners in secret could potentially be executed.

Additionally, there’s a lot more high quality goods for sale in Commoner towns and villagers, things you could previously only find in the capital itself, and at reasonably affordable prices at that.

It wasn’t that long ago that I wouldn’t even have been able to imagine such a change...I was sure that it was some devious plot or whatever, but even after five years since this tournament began, there’s been no sign of that so far.

Of course, it’s not like all the problems we faced have vanished...there’s still a fair bit of animosity between Nobles and Commoners, that’s not gonna simply just vanish because of some rule changes.

The Knight Order has become much less of a problem in the regard that they don’t abuse their power anymore, like at all...but the downside to that is the fact that they’ve become a lot more competent, efficient and organized.

Their new rank of Captain, there are six of them, each leading their own squad. Each of the Captains are quite powerful, but that’s not the problem...they’ve continued searching for me, Izzy dad and Larrk, and they’ve gotten pretty close. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

We’ve been avoiding them by hiding out in the Labyrinth whenever they show up in town, but in reality, we’ve just bought ourselves time, and worse, probably inadvertently narrowed down their suspect list.

The Kaygee Town Guild has been covering for us, and we’re safe for now, but they’ve informed the Guild and the town’s mayor that they’ll be coming back in a week to investigate the residents of the apartment rooms that were away during their previous investigations.

In other words, the apartment rooms we’re staying in. They’ve searched the rooms, so they likely know how many people are staying in either one, which means we’re in trouble. We’ll probably have to move out, unfortunately. It’s too bad, I was getting pretty settled into life in that town.

Larrk wasn’t too happy about it either...but he didn’t complain too much, I’m guessing mainly because he’s all but maxed out how much he can benefit from eating Monsters. He’s manifested a fair number of new abilities, the rest of us have refrained though, either because those particular Monsters are poisonous, or because they’re too creepy to eat.

Well, Izzy did try, but she didn’t have any luck with that, much to her disappointment. She’s been training hard down in the Labyrinth too, but as always, she’s been struggling to find any opponents that can give her a proper challenge.

Larrk started accepting her challenges again about a year ago, and has genuinely given her trouble when they fight...though he tries pretty hard to slice off parts of her body while fighting her, so that he can eat them, which she doesn’t mind at all.

Yeah, I still have a lot of mixed feeling towards that, my brother eating severed parts of my girlfriend...I mean, sure, she regenerates almost instant, but still! It’s really weird and uncomfortable!

Oh, yeah, while taking a rare few days off from the Labyrinth last year, Larrk briefly revisited Kieph Town and ranked up to Diamond, apparently doing so with ease. He’s been hiding his new abilities gained from Monsters, but the boosts to his physical state and Elemental Magic have been more than significant.

He’s probably grown a bit obsessed with powering up, which is why the fact that he’s finally closing in on the ceiling of this method is frustrating him. He reached the limit of physical and Elemental boosts quite a while ago, so he’s been focusing on strengthening the new abilities he’s gained from Monsters to the limit.

But it won’t be long before he’s done with that too. I mean, he’s been at this for practically five whole years at this point, two and half times longer than I did. He may not be living down there like I did, but he’s still spending at least eight to ten hours down there almost every single day.

Anyway, let’s get to the matter at hand...we’d been in contact with Gior and Phyurio not long after this competition, dubbed The Obsidian Games, was announced five years ago. We’d all agreed to lay low and keep our distance initially, as we’d assumed it could be a trap to draw us in.

However, the tournament has continued annually, with both Knights and increasing numbers of Adventurers participating in friendly contests. The previous four editions had all taken place in the capital, but this one, the fifth edition, was taking place in Hasch Town, a bustling town by the beach.

I contacted Gior about it, and we decided to come scout it out. We were in the audience, blending in and watching the tournament play out. And...it honestly does look like fun.

There are some familiar faces among the participants too...Rayven Farndrey, Rosary’s brother, was in it. As was Severa Sauveron, the opponent I’d faced during my ranking exams.

The contests ranged from the main attraction of a fighting competition, to a variety of other contests like target shooting, Monster hunting and even trivia!

No, I’m not kidding, there’s an actual trivia contest in this event. It’s pretty surreal, if you ask me, watching Knights and Adventurers playing games together like this.

And watching it in person as I am doing, it really does feel like the capital is making a genuine effort to mediate and potentially do away with the prejudice between Nobles and Commoners.

The new King was here as well, watching the competition. I’m here with Gior, we decided not to come in a large group, just to be safe. If it’s just the two of us, it’ll be easier to make a quick getaway if necessary...we’re not here to fight, not unless we’re given no choice in the matter.

The nations of Agate and Zircon have both all but abolished slavery entirely, the Commoners in those nations definitely have the best lives of all Commoners in the Dark Continent. The nation to the north of Obsidian, Onyx, has also begun implementing similar changes to what we’re seeing here.

But the nation of Hematite, the northmost country in the Dark Continent, is the only one that’s rigidly opposed these changes. It sounds like things have gotten pretty ugly there, with the Commoners lashing out in retaliation, it’s possibly heading towards a civil war.

Alright, looks like the tournament is starting to wrap up...there’s another reason why Gior and I decided to come here today, not just because this edition is taking place outside of the capital.

No, there’s another reason...the King is supposed to make some big announcement at the end of the tournament, something major. This could potentially be a major turning point in our history...it’s too important to miss.

"Here we go, it’s about that time," Muttered Gior, as the final contest wrapped up.

"Yeah, let’s see what this is about," I responded warily.

The King stepped forward in the balcony he was atop of, along with some other members of the Royal family and a few high ranking Knights to guard them, including the Commander.

"Greetings, everyone. That was quite an enjoyable experience, don’t you agree? I think it’s safe to say this has been another successful edition of The Obsidian Games, the contestants put on quite the enthralling show out there! Now, then, as you all may be aware, I have an announcement to make. This is a change to an obscure, unnecessary law, one that should have been made a long time ago," Remarked the King with a smile on his face.

"I know he’s been openly supporting all these positive changes, but...I don’t know, something about him gives me the creeps," I whispered quietly.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. That friendly smile he wears, it feels like he’s hiding something behind that amicable facade," Nodded Gior in agreement.

"As you know, Commoners are prohibited from traveling out of the nation, and have been for decades. We are all people of the same nation, be it Nobles or Commoners...we have fought amongst ourselves for so long, but it is time to put an end to that. We are not each others’ enemies, or at least, we shouldn’t be.

If we continue fighting amongst ourselves, it will only invite danger from our real enemies across the world, those of the Light Continent! We need unity amongst our people...as this tournament has made clear, our nation is blessed with both powerful Knights and Adventurers, neither are superior nor inferior to the other!

Therefore, I announce this change...Commoners will no longer be barred from visiting the other nations in the Dark Continent! Well, for the moment, it will only be to Zircon and Agate, as we’re yet to receive cooperation from Onyx and Hematite in this matter, but I shall work hard to rectify that!

Additionally, the prices for train tickets will be significantly reduced as well, allowing Commoners to be able to afford that method of public transport, furthermore-...," He announced, before being cut off as, suddenly, loud explosions burst out across the stadium, where the spectators were seated.

Screams and cries of panic began ringing out all around us, as Gior and I quickly stood up in alarm, looking around. What’s happening, was this a trap, after all!?

"We will not stand for this!" Suddenly came a loud voice from the arena.

We turned that way, to see a man wearing a hooded cloak standing in the middle, before several Adventurers and Knights surrounded him.

"Who are you!?" Snapped one of the Knights.

"A messenger. I am a member of the True Nobility, those of us who reject the disgraceful actions that the Royal family has been undertaking! We will not simply stand back and allow the lowly Commoners to be treated on equal terms with us Nobles! Consider this a warning...you have one week to return things to the way the were before. If nothing changes, you will suffer our wrath. We shall return our great nation to how it is supposed to be! You would do well to heed this warning," Declared the hooded figure, before suddenly vanishing from sight.

Yeah...of course this was all to good to be true...

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