4: What's Your Bargain.

He continued to watch as the soldiers arrived in front of the cell room and standing in front of them was a blonde-haired man who seemed to be in his mid-twenties with curly golden hair.

He was the only significant person among them with glamorous slightly yellow-coloured skin, bright amber eyes, a slightly angled, slightly oval-shaped face and a great muscular build. There were jewels of gold hung over his neck and a white coat that hung over his shoulders.

" I suppose he's the one that you spoke of?" He asked, as he slowly turned his gaze towards the only man left standing behind the cell bars.

He had a mean look on his face which didn't change no matter what he did and it was quite frightening even for the guards that were standing behind him.

" Have him meet at the roof, I'll be dealing with him myself." He said, before walking away while his personal mage followed behind him, " and also, I don't want any additional wounds on him."

The expressions on their faces instantly dropped after his last words, it was quite clear that they were hoping to bully him afterwards but he was hoping it was what would happen anyway.

They unlocked the cell and quickly pulled up the beat-up inmates before pushing them out while one of them guided him to the roof of the building while trying to be as rough as he could be.

" Honestly, he would be begging on his knees right now had this been any other place." He thought as he tried to hide the frown that was trying to find its way onto his face.

It wasn't long before he arrived at the roof of the building to see the yellow-haired man staring off into the distance with his hands held onto the rails in front of him.

" You may go now, Marcus." He said, still staring off into the distance.

The new prisoner was dumbfounded at what he had just heard. The young man seemed to be a well-rounded noble, the fact that he knew a mere soldier's name meant that he was either close with him or had a very good good, which were both very unlikely.

" I find it hard to believe that you would actually try to remember the name of a simple commoner." He said, staring intently at the good-looking man.

" How dare you speak to the prince in such a manner!" The mage cautioned him with a frown on his face.

" That's enough Fred." He said as he let go of the rail and turned towards the prisoner with a slight smile while slowly walking towards him, "The fact that you would say such a thing means that you're well aware of my status... and yet you chose to speak with such manners. I might be starting to like you."

He couldn't help but try to keep his eyes away from the man's face because the smile only made him look worse.

" Alright then Fred let's get going." He said, turning around once again.

A golden, glowing door instantly appeared in front of them and went open. The young man looked back at the both of them before slowly walking through it while they both followed behind.

As they crossed to the other side, his eyes were blinded by the green that surrounded them. They ended up in a circle surrounded by forest greenery and green heels that were simply mesmerising.

" Now as for your punishment for directly going against the king's rules, you will have to face me in combat and all I ask of you is that you last for more than three minutes." The noble said, turning his gaze towards him once again but this time with a rather cheeky smile, " I know that you must be wondering why you'd be given the death penalty but trust me, you would have been dead long before you even woke up had I not been the one dealing with your case."

" And you actually consider yourself more forgiving than they are?" He said, looking back at him with a stern gaze.

" You do know you killed a soldier while trying to protect the lady right? What difference would it make if you were an other-worlder or not, all crimes should be paid for equally and death has always been the punishment for murder." The noble stated as he slowly took away the smile he had on his face.

He stared down at the man as the very first words he just said to him rang through his mind.

" He said lady while referring to one of them, why would use such manner of tones?" He thought as he slowly raised up his head once again.

" Very well then, if you have nothing to say then why don't we begin."

The magic binding cuffs that had been tied around his right hand were quickly removed and in a few seconds, they were both standing opposite each other in the middle of the circle.

As soon as they began, the man's aura spread throughout the entire area and he began to feel a huge amount of his energy quickly seeping out of his body.

He fell to his knees almost instantly after the fight began and gripped his head with both hands as he began to scream loudly in pain. Slowly, his transformation began to wear off and he had no choice but to give up.

" I give up! Stop it please." He pleaded as he continued to stare at the ground with his hands on his head.

The massive energy drain instantly stopped and he began to breathe heavily as he slowly let go of his head.

" Feel free to stand up once your body feels like it." The noble said as he slowly walked past him.

After a few minutes, he got up from the ground feeling dizzy and completely sapped of any form of strength left in him.

They passed through the door once again and this time they arrived in front of the door to a room.

" You see, I want to make a bargain, you can have your life spared but after you've proven your loyalty to me. Talent like yours aren't easy to find."

He couldn't help but turn his gaze to the door after hearing what the man had said. Whatever way he had to prove his loyalty definitely lay on the other side of it.

He was handed a sword and made to head into the room and the door was immediately closed behind him. What he saw next left him in total shock and shivers.

" You have two minutes to kill and if you can't then you can get ten minutes to give a bargain that's actually worth her life or more than it." The noble said, leaning against the door.

He slowly dropped the sword on the ground and said, " I want to make a bargain, but it will be my life instead of hers."

The man heaved a sigh as he slowly looked at the timepiece in his hand before saying, "Fine then, have it your way."