"Dreleon, look at this!
Isn't it magnificent?"
The voice of the Princess shattered the heavy silence of the palace quarters.
Vanessa was leaning over a massive mahogany table, her fingers tracing the intricate lines of a map that smelled of old parchment and expensive ink.
The map detailed a vast, untamed territory of jagged mountains and winding veins of water.
"It's the designated zone for the Hunting competition," she said, her voice bubbling with a joy that felt alien to Dreleon's ears.
"The King has decreed it.
As a Royal of the Lion Clan, I must participate in this decade's hunt.
It is our chance to show the other clans that our blood is still the purest."
Dreleon stood three paces behind her, his posture rigid.
His yellow and gold robes felt like a cage.
Beneath the fine silk, he could feel the Great Erosion snake pulsing against his ribs, a steady vibration that reminded him he was no longer normal.
Every few seconds, a sharp, white-hot spark flickered in his chest—the "Heart Flare."
It was the physical manifestation of his 10x energy penalty and the plus energy consumption that came with using great erosion ants 150x strength, almost reaching as high as 95x energy consumption, a reminder that his cells were constantly on the verge of consuming themselves.
He looked at the map, his eyes narrowing.
He saw a winding waterway labeled the Bugs River.
Bugs River, he thought bitterly.
'and here I was thinking about asking it or not,'
"Dreleon?" Vanessa turned, her smile faltering as she looked at his stony expression.
He didn't look at the beautiful jungles or the glory of the competition.
He felt laughable after going through all that hell, just to become her guard.
"It is a dangerous region, Your Highness," Dreleon said, his voice flat and devoid of the excitement she clearly wanted from him.
He wanted to tell her that no matter how exciting or important the danger of this competition was numerous.
"Don't worry, my father said that the competition will only include some royals of other clans and mostly everyone else will be just high level at most," she said with confidence showing her pride in him.
"I shall begin the necessary preparations for your safety immediately." he said, not interested in knowing anything else.
Vanessa's smile faded; it shattered like a glass.
She looked at him for two long seconds, searching for the boy who used to play with her in the gardens, but finding only a stern, cold soldier who smelled of old ways and hidden pain.
"Preparation.
Always preparation," she whispered, a flash of disappointment crossing her golden eyes.
She turned back to the map, her shoulders tensing.
"You are dismissed, Dreleon.
Go.
Prepare your weapons since my joy seems to be such a burden to you."
Dreleon bowed, his head low so she couldn't see the wince of pain as his heart flared again.
He didn't try to explain.
How could he tell her that he had spent weeks being "sawed" in half and rebuilt?
How could he tell her that the world was hungry, and that her "game" was nothing more than a dinner invitation for the monsters?
He walked out of the room, his hand subtly pressing against his chest to steady the Great Erosion snake.
He had one week.
One week to find a way to stabilize his energy, and to ensure that when the "game" turned into a massacre, he would be strong enough to pull her back from the abyss.
But as he stepped into the hallway, his vision swam.
The heart flare was getting worse.
He was a failing engine, and the journey hadn't even begun.