Slashing noises could be heard in the open field as he continued to slice thin air.
Sweat dripped down from his forehead and down into his shirt. Despite the extremely cold weather in the Mir Mountains, he was still adamant in training his skills.
Gideon breathed hard as he did so.
His desires were overflowing.
Get stronger and better.
'Still not enough!' He gritted his teeth in anger and slashed his sword once more. The sword of the seas creating a bluish trail that was beautiful to look at.
Yet he couldn't stay complacent.
Despite having his skills increased multiple folds, it wasn't enough to protect someone.
That someone who was now the king of this territory he was residing in.
In all honesty, Gideon did not know how to react. He was happy that Pier had found his rightful place and that was to become the ruler.
Pier had the skills and the capacity to rule an entire nation.
But that made him feel little. He was constantly looking at himself in the mirror wondering if he was still worthy to become Pier's personal knight.
Personal knight? That title sounds farfetched now.
He did not really have the time to talk things out with Pier right after their conversation at the garden because of a certain variable.
The vampire king.
Ciaran Fenrir was sticking on to Pier like glue and wasn't leaving his side any moment of the day for the past two months.
Two months had passed and it felt so long since Gideon was able to freely converse with Pier without having any interruptions.
It had been so long since he was able to spend time with the former young master. He missed Pier so much.
He missed talking to the white-haired noble and conversing about things Pier liked.
But now he had the vampire king to confide his problems with. He saw how Pier wasn't that bothered having someone interested in him follow the king daily.
Unlike Asher or the other people at the Taron Kingdom, Gideon saw how Pier was always smiling whenever the vampire prince was beside him.
He felt like he had no place anymore.
It was childish of him to think off but he couldn't help feeling that way.
There was only one solution he can do for him to stand beside Pier again.
It was to become stronger.
Gideon knew he needed to reach the level of either the two kings of somewhere near lower if he desires to continue being the king's knight.
"Haah..." He huffed. How long had he been here? Gideon couldn't recall.
He started training the moment the morning comes and ends when the night falls. That's his usual routine for the past two months and it was making him frustrated.
Of course, he knew about his master's feats.
Pier was able to take control of a kingdom without having any forces come with him aside the vampire king. The two was able to reach an incredible achievement that no other creature can do.
It was a wide-known fact throughout the residents of the Mir Mountains and that increased their love to the two kings even more.
Gideon saw how every vampire was kneeling every time Pier and Ciaran came into the scene.
The Mir Mountains is a very large territory comparable to the Taron Kingdom and having only a thousand citizens, they were scattered all throughout and were living independently while still being under the two kings' rulership.
Pier did that without him too.
He felt bad. He felt bad with himself for being incompetent to stand beside Pier and fight alongside him.
When was the last time the two fought?
Probably at the Mir Mountains when his master had gone to destroy the glowing rock.
"Not enough." He glared at particularly nothing and slashed his sword again. This time, a wave of force was produced and it cut the trees that were meters away.
"What is not enough?"
"Eek!" Gideon flinched at the sudden voice that spoke from a distance.
It was too sudden and he did not even get to notice it. The dragon residing inside him also did not feel the person approaching.
Slowly, he turned his head back and gulped when he saw who it was.
He was just as brilliant every time Gideon saw him. His royal clothes that were tailored into the finest clothes he had seen fit the king perfectly.
His hands were inside his pockets and there was a cloud of air that formed when he breathed due to the cold weather.
The cerulean blue eyes that contained the skies and the oceans were staring at him making Gideon stare boldly for a second. His white hair was like the small objects that fell from the sky and it was taking his breath away.
Pier was always beautiful.
He never saw a moment in his life where the young master- no, the king, had been ugly.
"Y-Your Majesty!" He hurriedly ran to Pier and kneeled in front of the royal.
Pier wasn't the young master now. He had a higher position.
A king, a royalty, a ruler.
While he had his head down low, his eyes widened when he heard Pier chuckle.
"You sound like you're meeting someone you don't know for the first time, Gideon." Pier commented and patted his head lightly.
"Raise your stance and be at ease." Pier's gentle voice entered his ears and the knight immediately followed.
"You look messy." Pier gave him a lopsided grin and grabbed something from his pocket.
"Wipe your sweat away, Gideon." He threw the handkerchief towards the latter and Gideon's breath hitched when the soft material landed on his hand.
The memory of him receiving Pier's handkerchief back at the Western Area the first time they met replayed in his mind for a short moment.
"B-But your majesty..."
"Hah, stop calling me your majesty. It feels weird." Pier flicked his forehead and even though it did not hurt, Gideon still covered the hit part with his hand while feigning a pained expression.
"Then what should I dress his majesty the king?" Gideon smiled when he realized that Pier did not change.
It was still the usual elegant and classy young master he served months before.
"Now that I think about it, I'm not the young master anymore." Pier looked at the sky and thought about the scenario.
It would be inappropriate for Gideon to still call him young master because that was no longer his title.
"Just address me whatever you want to except for the majesty one." He lightly laughed and turned his back from the knight.
Gideon clutched the handkerchief before following behind Pier closely.
"Then I would like to address his majesty as my liege." He seriously spoke making Pier halt in his steps.
Liege.
That was such an extravagant word.
"If you want to then I'd give you the term exclusively." He responded quite quickly and Gideon's smile returned.
His liege and master. His King.
That sounds better than calling Pier the young master.
"But my liege, where is the other king?" He spoke.
He couldn't really accept Ciaran as the king despite Gideon's stay here for the past two months. Understanding that his master and the vampire king were lovers was enough for him to do so but acknowledging the creature as someone superior than him was hard to fathom.
Gideon was being petty and he knew that too.
Maybe soon, but not now. He was still looking at the vampire king as someone who used Pier for the benefit of their own village before.
"Ciaran? Oh, king's duties." They both continued to walk and a comfortable silence ensued over the two.
Gideon was having many thoughts in his head that he did not notice Pier turned on another direction.
"M-My liege!" He quickly ran towards Pier.
Pier remained silent until they reached the area that they both were familiar.
It was the part of the destroyed fourth mountain where Gideon and Pier reunited after being separated for months.
"Do you still remember this place?" The white-haired king asked and Gideon nodded his head.
"Of course, my liege. I could not forget this spot of the Mir Mountains." He responded.
Pier sat down on the same spot he stood at announcing his aspirations. Gideon followed and sat beside Pier.
"I came back to the kingdom and I was able to let me existence be known throughout the entire territory." Pier was watching the small beads of snow dropping from the skies.
"I also constructed my name in the records of the world. I became a saint, a hero, a savior." He smiled at the titles.
"There are still two things I wasn't able to achieve from the promises I made." He turned to look at Gideon but the knight was already staring at him.
"I wasn't able to create a place where my enemies shall bend their knees." Hugging his knees closer to his chest, Pier leaned his head on his folded knees.
"I wasn't able to forge my name upon the torch of success." Pier closed his eyes and just allowed himself to feel the winter winds scraping through the barks and leaves of trees.
"Gideon, I'm sorry." Pier admitted out loud and the knight's eyes widened.
"Young... My liege, there is no reason for you to apologize!" He spoke hurriedly, afraid that he would create unnecessary worry for the man beside him.
"Haha, you think so?" Gideon nodded his head at the statement.
Of course there was no need for Pier to apologize for not achieving his promises. He could still do so and there is still plenty of time.
"But Gideon, I'm afraid completing those goals." Pier bit his lower lip.
Truthfully, he wanted to let Gideon be on his own.
The moment he saw the knight kneeling on the stake with his head hung low ready to accept his death, Pier's heart was filled with fear and worry.
That scenario placed a mark in his chest and he felt responsible for letting Gideon feel the suffering.
"I almost lost you halfway through." He opened his eyes and Gideon's breath stopped for a second after seeing the pair of those wonderful eyes that did not cease to amaze him.
"I couldn't help but fear seeing your cold body. It scares me." Pier gave a heavy sigh and hid his face from the world.
He wanted to let Gideon be free and without any attachments for him as his personal knight.
"My liege..." The knight trailed off after hearing his master's sentiments.
Pier was scared of losing him?
His lips quivered and suddenly, he wanted to cry.
Pier raised his head and this time, he fully looked at his knight. With a heavy heart and chest, the white-haired king opened his mouth to speak.
"Gideon, I'm removing you as my personal knight."
He froze in his spot and Gideon couldn't move nor speak.
'I'm not... the king's personal knight...' He thought and his body reacted quickly.
Pier was surprised too at the sudden movement.
Gideon changed his position and instead, he completely kneeled in all fours. He lowered his head until it touched the ground.
"PLEASE RECONSIDER, MY LIEGE!" He bit his teeth and prevented the sobs from coming out.
No, that couldn't happen.
His place was beside Pier alone and if he were to be discarded from that spot, Gideon did not know where he can still find the purpose or his goals.
"But Gideon-"
"I WILL NOT BECOME A BURDEN, MY LIEGE!" He spoke with seriousness.
"I WAS WEAK BECAUSE I COULD NOT PROTECT MYSELF AND ALLOWED HARM TO POSSESS ME. BUT I PROMISE I HAVE BECOME STRONGER!" This time, Gideon's voice slightly cracked.
How could this happen?
It was their first time talking again after quite some time and he would be greeted about the news of his dismissal from Pier's personal knight.
"Gideon-"
"Please, my liege... Do not remove me from the position of your knight." He sobbed in between the two sentences.
"I...I cannot find my purpose if my liege were to discard me from the position." His forehead continued to touch the ground.
"I have trained hard for the past two months for me to become worthy of becoming your knight so please reconsider." He begged.
Gideon would beg anytime he needed to with Pier.
The last time they were at the shores of the eastern district, Gideon also did the same. He begged to stay beside Pier and the man allowed him.
But this time, he could feel the finality in Pier's voice.
He doesn't want that. Gideon wanted to stay beside Pier for all of his life.
"How can I fulfill my own goals when the person whom I have devoted them to does not need me anymore?" His voice completely broke and Gideon started to cry.
"I... Didn't I promise that I will accompany you on your journey towards success, my liege?!" His hands were dirtied as well as his face. But he never cared.
"How will I achieve my own goals if my master disbands the promise we have with each other?" He spoke and a pang of guilt pierced the king's heart.
"That I will be your knight as you are my master. That I will rejoice with your accomplishments while I pave your way towards it?" He breathed hard but this time, Pier did not speak anymore.
There was another voice speaking inside the white-haired king's head.
"Guardian, I want to meet the creature inside your knight." Pier was baffled with Melfar's sudden interruption.
Creature? There was another creature inside Gideon?
He couldn't focus properly with Gideon begging in front of him as Melfar's words lingered in his thoughts.
"Gideon, wait-" He abruptly stood up and that alerted the knight.
Gideon's insides trembled when he saw Pier's expression.
"MY LIEGE!" He instinctively grabbed Pier's hands.
Flash!
A blinding light flashed throughout the fourth mountain.
It was so bright Gideon had to close his eyes for him to avoid getting blinded.
"Gideon." He heard another voice speak but this time, it wasn't Pier. It was the voice that spoke to him a few times in the past.
"Open your eyes." And he did so. The knight slowly opened his eyes but they soon widened in surprise.
There was no longer the presence of trees, grass, and any other life from the fourth mountain. Instead, he saw that he was inside a plain area that had a bright color.
Like the sky without clouds and like the oceans without ends.
"We've meet again." But he was even more baffled with what's in front of him.
A giant creature that had blue scales spanning in its entire body was staring back at him.
"Dragon..." He spoke as he once more saw the dragon's appearance. Its ferocious face that spoke about the mightiest myths in books and records was something he never could comprehend.
But here it was.
He looked like a small piece of rock while staring at the blue dragon. To say it was amazing would be the perfect word.
But Gideon couldn't focus on that for now. There was someone was talking to earlier!
"My liege! Where is he?!" He panicked as he looked from left to right.
But there was no one. Inside this place, no other life forms existed. It was as if he transferred into another dimension.
"MY LIEGE-" He tried to scream while ignoring the dragon in front of him but soon stopped as the creature spoke once more.
"Behind you."
This time, a shiver ran down Gideon's spine.
There weren't two living entities inside this unknown place anymore but four.
Slowly, he turned his head.
What was this feeling? An indescribable emotion started to run through his body as the unknown was waiting for him to see it.
It felt like he was so little. He was insignificant.
And this time, the moment Gideon was able to see what's behind him,
Gasp!
A sudden intake of breath was made and he froze in his spot. His mind went blank and his hands trembled.
The sweat dripping down his forehead earlier started to diminish as the comfortable light healed him.
There floating on top of the place they were in was the white-haired king.
His clothes were fluttering through the gusts of air while a barrier was surrounding his body. It was producing so much magic that tornadoes were striking the plain ground left and right behind.
The glowing crown on top of his head was further enhanced and it was so bright that Gideon felt like he could get blinded at any moment.
Another was the field underneath his master.
It was an entire area of frozen lands with towering ice crystals.
But that wasn't comparable to the astonishment he got from the most noticeable thing flying behind Pier.
He was flabbergasted.
It was even bigger than the blue dragon, even stronger.
If he felt like stone in front of the creature behind him, he felt like he was a spec of dust on the one behind Pier.
It was magnificent and breathtaking.
The spectacular appearance of the majestic creature that he heard of a few times made his body unable to move.
A tremendous gush of flame magic erupted from the creature and it made Gideon stumble behind. It was the greatest eruption of magic he ever felt.
"A small dragon." It spoke with its authoritative voice.
"A progenitor phoenix and the sovereign of this continent." The dragon behind him responded.
He couldn't fully comprehend and believe what he was seeing right now. He thought having the dragon appear was already the epitome of the surprise he could get but what is this?
He heard the dragon speak again.
"Phoenix of the beginning, Melfar."