"Any favour are you sure about this?" Nox asked skeptically, unable to take the king's words seriously. If the latter had promised him one favor, it would have been more believable. However, he wasn't offering just one—he was offering three.
Wasn't he afraid of what Nox might ask for?
As if reading his thoughts, King Dracos Frostpire cleared his throat and said in a composed yet firm voice, "Of course, there are some specific favors you're not allowed to ask for. For example, you can't ask to be the King of Dragons."
"What if I actually wanted that?" Nox cut in, his eyes narrowing.
"Well…" The dragon king hesitated before speaking in a clear tone. "Naturally, we wouldn't agree to such a request."
What Nox had said was enough to enrage any other dragon king if they had heard it, but King Dracos Frostpire had a clear head on his shoulders. In fact, despite his battle-crazed nature, he was one of the most rational kings.
As such, it was easy for him to see that Nox didn't really mean what he had said.
Nox didn't want to be the king of Frostpire. No, that would be useless to him.
He wanted to be the Dragon Emperor—the first of his kind, with all dragons and their kings beneath him.
Naturally, King Dracos Frostpire didn't think that a mere boy of about 15-17 had such grand ambitions. If he heard it, he would merely laugh, dismissing it as no different from a child wishing to command the stars.
Seeing the contemplative expression on Nox's face, King Dracos spoke again. "Furthermore, I hope you didn't think we'd simply grant you three favors just for joining the competition." He paused and smirked wickedly.
That smirk set off all the alarm bells in Nox's head. A part of him had expected this. Not even a foolish king would offer such a deal for just entering a tournament.
This meant that he wasn't required to do much—just show up on the day of the fight, get himself eliminated, and claim his rewards.
"I figured." Nox held the king's gaze. "You're not the type to make empty promises."
"We're on the same page, then." King Dracos smiled, his impression of Nox improving with each passing moment. The boy was effortlessly charming, without even trying.
"All you have to do is win the tournament." King Dracos spoke as if he were stating a simple fact.
Zara and Drake's eyes widened when they heard this. Not only them—the five others who had been eavesdropping were equally shocked.
"Father… isn't that too much?" Drake tried to speak, but the king raised a hand, silencing him. All he could do was step back, frowning in thought.
'Just what is he thinking?' he wondered. 'This demand is outrageous. I know he's strong, and there's still a lot he has yet to show, but is that enough to carry us to the finals?'
'No… is it enough to face the heirs of the Big Four?'
Zara shared the same concerns. Her brows furrowed, and her lips pressed into a thin line as she studied her father's expression, trying to decipher his thoughts.
"So, what do you say?" King Dracos asked, an expectant gleam in his light blue eyes.
"Can you shorten the favors to one?" Nox suddenly asked.
The king's eyes widened.
The others were equally stunned, turning to Nox as if he were some kind of rare creature. Some even questioned whether he was in his right mind. The king had clearly offered three favors—why would he reduce it to one?
This… this was like throwing away three wishes just to ask for a single, uncertain one.
Zara, however, wasn't surprised. Looking at Nox's face, she could tell he had something up his sleeve.
"Yes," King Dracos finally said, "but in return, the weight of the favor will be much heavier." He then quickly added, "Of course, I won't grant you my throne."
"I don't want that," Nox replied.
"Then what do you want?" Drake asked. To him, no favor could be bigger than claiming the throne. If it were him, he would have certainly asked for that instead.
"I want…" Nox paused. He had thought about this for the past three minutes and had even practiced a way to phrase it so that the king wouldn't be able to decipher his true intentions.
"I want to help you."
Everyone raised an eyebrow but remained silent.
Nox continued. "Zara is a close friend of mine. We've known each other for a while now."
'A while' in his mind meant only a few weeks, but the others wouldn't know that.
Zara stared at him, confused. They had never spoken about this before.
"She told me about your kingdom's current state and the threat of the corrupt dragons. As someone who means a lot to me, I couldn't just sit back and watch as the thing most precious to her is destroyed."
"Assuming you can help, how do you plan to do that?" The king asked, genuine curiosity shining in his eyes.
"By empowering you," Nox answered without hesitation. "All I ask in return for winning this tournament is that you allow me to empower you and all the dragons of Frostpire."
"Empower?" The king frowned. "What do you mean by that? And why would you choose to empower us when we are the ones clearly asking for your help?"
The king felt a headache forming—not from skepticism, but from overthinking. In just sixty seconds, this conversation had gone in a direction he hadn't expected.
"As I said, Zara means a lot to me." Nox spoke indifferently, seeing no reason to explain further. The others understood his message loud and clear.
"How would you empower us?"
"That's for me to worry about," Nox said. "All I want is your word and a promise never to break it. Do you agree?"
The king thought about it for a moment. His instincts, honed over the years, told him something was amiss here. But he pushed that thought to the back of his mind.
Besides, even he wasn't entirely certain that Nox would win the tournament.
"You have my word," King Dracos finally declared. "A dragon's word is his bond, and a righteous dragon like me will never break it."
Ignoring the 'righteous' part Dracos had conveniently added, Nox simply nodded.
The first phase of his plan was a success.
And then, of course, leading into the next part:
"Now, what do you mean if I want to be a dragon?"