After Grey's fight, another 12 played out before Anette came back. While the 14th of 64 fights played out in the Arena, the King and Queen were briefed about Grey.
"Grey Heart, 17, Human. However, an interesting fact is that his ears are human-shaped but pointed, yet he has no elf blood, and his canines are long like a vampire's, yet again, he has no blood ties.
He was a student at The Island but left after the first Course. Now, he works as a Hunter and has 3 confirmed kills.
His Elements are Light and Poison, and he has 18,500 Mana. However, we don't know his Efficiency and his other stats. However, he is believed to be at least 32% Efficiency, and at least D- in overall stats."
"Wait," The King interrupted. "You can't access his stats? Why not? Is he not in the system?"
While they couldn't see any data from the Academy, they could see data from anywhere else, such as the Hunter Association or the Hero Association. Therefore, as a registered Hunter, Grey's stats should have been accessible.
"For some reason, his stats are classified. We can't get data on him. However, we believe this is due to his family."
The true reason for this was a precaution that Grey set up; he asked Fallen Star to hide all his info, just in case an unforeseen situation happened due to it.
"Oh, family? Do go on." The Queen ordered, intrigued. What family could the boy have to be worthy of having his info blocked from everyone's view?
"His father is Lucas Heart, the weapon master, and his mother is Samantha Heart, formerly Samantha Wulf, daughter of Khan and Sheila Wulf."
"Hm, that makes him eligible for classification. Yet, why would we be blocked? We are part of The Council, are we not?"
The Council was the name of the 36 people that led the Tri-Government.
"I do not know, my liege. I assume that Khan Wulf especially ordered so. His strength is creeping up on 3rd place, and he is much younger than those old geezers above him. He may soon overtake even Jay."
"That could warrant it, yes." The King nodded. "Very well, continue."
"That is it, my liege." Anette informed.
"Come again?" Both the King and Queen were bewildered. "Should we not have more info?"
"There is no data about his childhood, he sparingly went outside. He can drive, but there's not much else, my liege."
"He barely ever went outside? What? Did he not have a childhood?" The King questioned.
"I cannot say for sure, however, the Young Miss may know more about him, seeing as they have been friends for 3 months." At Anette's words, they turned to Aurora.
Seeing their faces, she sighed.
"Let's see. He was Rank 0, and on day 1 he completed Miss Erth's test in 20 minutes, with a perfect score, he beat Aldrin Calvo in a single turn, overwhelmed Rank 1, and shocked Professor Drakell so badly he fell on his ass. Also, he, just like me, activated the bracelet before the academy course started."
"Impressive. How about during the course?" Her mother asked, urging her on.
"He passed everything perfectly, never once making a mistake, and at the end of course tests, he also scored first, with a perfect score."
"Lots of perfects with him, huh." The King remarked. "Tell us more about him shocking Drakell. Shocking him is quite hard if it's the same Drakell I know."
"Grey is constantly circulating Mana, without trying, and uses Mana Breathing as his normal breathing cycle, without seeing Mana. As he said, 'I send a small sliver of Mana into my eyes at all times', or something along those lines."
"Oh my!"
"!"
The King and Queen were shocked to hear that. They understood Drakell's reaction. To do any of that would put a burden on both the body and Mana Heart, so that fact he could was more than a monumental feat, it was nigh impossible.
"Alright then, I have only 2 more questions. What's he like as a person? And is he your type?" The Queen inquired.
Aurora blushed at the second question but quickly composed herself.
"As a person, he's very considerate, a little naive when it comes to emotions, confident, cautious, and an overall good friend. Is he my type? Well, he certainly is, however, I'm not interested in him, just his mysteries."
The King and Queen made knowing smiles to one another, and then the King nodded to Anette. She nodded back, leaving once more.
'?' Aurora was confused, but she understood the situation. 'Don't tell me...'
---
Grey walked through the Arena's halls, following Anette. As he trailed behind her, he thought of the events that led him here.
He had been resting in the waiting room, watching the matches in case there was any worthy competition. There wasn't, of course, but it was good to make sure.
Then, Anette appeared from nowhere, gesturing for him to follow her. No words had been spoken, but Grey was eager to change that.
"How much further, if I may ask?" He said to Anette, not entirely respecting a response.
"..."
"Where are we going? The castle? Did Aurora ask for me?" He let loose a small tirade of questions, yet none were answered.
"..."
'I see,' Grey thought. 'Clearly, whoever asked for me did this on purpose. Most likely to make me feel tense. Well, it won't work. My Mana can sustain a small teleport, right?'
- A teleport to anywhere within 5 meters, that you can see, yes. But back home, no. - Fallen Star informed.
'Well, that makes it only a bit harder. I'll Null my way through the walls.'
- You could only sustain that for about 20 walls. -
'Fallen Star, stop blocking me with logic. I'm wary right now, and am not thinking straight.'
- Why, worried that you're meeting your girlfriend's parents? - It teased.
Grey blushed at It's words, the connotation clear.
'She's not my girlfriend!' He scolded. 'You want to go through my memories of food, right?'
- Okay, I'm sorry. -
Anette, who had been leading Grey to the castle, had been watching him from the corner of her eye. She stood to his left, just a step ahead of him, so she was able to catch his expression.
Suddenly, he blushed, which confused her.
'What is he doing?' However, the answer to the question had no bearing on her job, so Anette continued to dutifully lead Grey to the castle.
Soon enough, they stepped out of the long hallway they were in and entered a courtyard.
The courtyard was full of flora: trimmed bushes rimmed the passage, neatly cut patches of grass that were covered in flowers, and a central fountain that had a depiction of the King carved into a bush adorning it.
'Beautiful.' Was the only word Grey could think of. There were flowers of all colors, and they were aligned in an array that complimented each color. 'They used color theory for a flower garden. Talk about dedication. Half these plants take years to grow.'
Just beyond the garden was the massive structure of the castle; it consumed all of Grey's vision, leaving only the garden for him to admire. Now that he was up close, he was stunned by the intricate, ornate designs that lay upon the walls of the castle. The architecture was covered in both real and fake branches, yet it was impossible to discern which was which.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Anette spoke her first words to him in the garden, and Grey nodded in response.
"I didn't know that the Arena was connected to the castle." The Arena was located to the west of the castle, but there was no obvious connection to the castle. "Were we underground?"
"Yes," Anette spoke. "Please, continue to follow me."
Grey nodded, jogging to catch up. While he had stopped to admire the garden, Anette had continued onward.
On the other side of the garden was a single, unadorned, unassuming door. Anette led him through them, and he was finally in the castle. The door closed behind him and disappeared. Had he not entered through it, he would not have believed there was a door there.
The halls were neatly decorated: red carpet on the floor, the occasional painting hanging from the white walls, a chandelier every 10 or so meters, and a vase with flowers on a table. On the wall that looked westward, the place Grey came from, there were massive windows, allowing one to look out upon the Elven Capital.
'Must be a pain to clean, even with Magic.' Was his only thought, however.
Once more, Anette led him through winding passages, deeper and deeper into the castle.
"We're here," Anette announced. "Welcome to the throne room." They stood before massive double doors with ornate swirling patterns of trees. The doors were white and green, the patterns being colored in gold.
She turned to him. "Do you know the etiquette when meeting royalty?"
"I believe so, but it doesn't hurt to double-check." He said with a smile.
---
The double doors opened without a sound, and just outside their reach stood an elf in formal attire.
"Presenting to the King and Queen of the Elves; Grey Heart!"
Grey walked down the carpet of the throne room, marveling at its size. One half of the room was a square, with white walls and large paintings of the royal family. The other half was like a circular sphere and made of inverted staircases. Chandeliers hung from the ceiling, only 2 massive ones were needed to illuminate the entirety of the room. At the bottom of the semi-sphere sat a circular platform, raised by several stairs. On the platform were 3 thrones, the smallest on the left, presumably Aurora's, the biggest in the middle, the King's, and the one on the right was in between in size. The Queen's.
On the thrones in the middle and the right sat the King and Queen themselves.
When he stood just 4 steps away from the first stair, he stopped and kneeled. He brought himself down to one knee and placed his right hand on his heart.
Looking down, he spoke.
"Greetings to your Royal Majesties. I am Grey Heart."