The group decided to take a rest near the lake. Luis concocted some pills made out of some herbs he found in the forest and some beast meat they got from the gigantic Black Demon.
The group suddenly heard a faint growl around them and immediately get into position to fight. Their faces are serious even though they looked exhausted they're ready to fight.
"I'm sorry guys, it's just my tummy, I'm really hungry from all that fighting we did." Serion apologized while scratching the back of his head.
"You scared the hell out of us, Serion! I was ready to fight betting my whole life!" Alyssa smacked Serion at the back with force.
"When you're hungry, you can always ask, don't let your body do the talk! There, I already removed the poisonous substance." Luis tossed meats from the beasts they slew and a large chunk of meat from the Black Demon.
They roasted the meat as they spent the whole night cheering and eating merrily, Luis ate a few bites and continued concocting a strange pill.
"What are you doing, Luis? You should take a rest! You haven't slept for the whole day!" Serion asked while munching on a large piece of roasted meat.
"At least someone should be ready when a sudden ambush happened right?" Luis replied while concocting.
"Then what are you concocting there?" Serion asked.
"It's a special concoction that I just discovered!" Luis exclaimed and the potion inside the cauldron became a pill.
"This is a special pill that has the characteristics of the mist the Black Demon exhaled," Luis explained as he picks up dozens of blood-red pills.
"Wait, you mean you made a deadly pill that can kill all of us if handled incorrectly?" Serion exclaimed with eyes wide open.
"No, it won't react unless activated by energy," Luis explained.
"Oh! I get it! You will use that as bait!" Serion was enlightened.
"Yes, we need some ways to protect ourselves," Luis explained as he continued to concoct more pills.
On the second day of their stay, a strange phenomenon happened. The shimmering lake suddenly glowed and a bud slowly rose on the surface of the water. The bud quickly grew and became a semi-transparent lotus that emitted a unique aura with different colors. The lotus looked like it's alive because of its pulsing petals as if it was breathing.
"Is that the Mystique Flower?" Achilleas asked.
"I think that's it! The descriptions about the flower matched!" Luis exclaimed as he opened a book about herbs.
"Let's get it already!" Achilleas was about to dive into the lake.
"No! It's not the time yet! It needs to be in white before we can successfully harvest it or it will die!" Luis stopped the man as he intently looked at the semi-transparent flower pulsing on the surface of the water.
"Guys, danger! The mane, it changes color!" Serion exclaimed as he took out the black mane which slowly changed its color into red.
"Get ready to fight! Enemies are hiding somewhere around!" Alyssa exclaimed as her hands glowed red with the sudden outburst of her aura.
"Well, well, well... It's quite surprising to be discovered this early!" A deep voice suddenly spoke as people suddenly emerged from the forest. There are about two dozens of people appeared. More than twice the number of Luis's group.
They wore black robes with grey colored cloud pattern embroidered on their robes.
"Black Cloud Sect!" Luis exclaimed when he saw the robes of these people.
"Oh! Someone did their research! Yes, we are from Black Cloud Sect and that flower belongs to us!" The man who was supposed to be the leader of the group.
"Who are you?" Serion asked while in a fighting stance.
"Are you dumb? I already told you that we are the Black Cloud Sect!" The man spoke in an annoyed manner.
"Dumb? I'm asking who are you personally not your group, dimwit!" Serion mocked.
"Capture them! Kill them if they resist!" The man raged and ordered.
"I won't let you!" Alyssa stood out and intensified her aura.
"This is interesting, the two candidates to become the Chosen Child and the Saint of the Fire are here!" The man smirked as he pointed out towards the group and his comrades encircled them.
"We can't escape from them, we are surrounded!" Luis exclaimed as he started to prepare to fight.
"Black Skill: Shadow Bomb!" The leader chanted as a black ball rushed towards the group.
"Earth Manipulation: Earth Wall!" Luis chanted as a tall wall suddenly rose and blocked the attack but Luis received a rebound force that threw him towards the lake.
The moment that he fell from the lake, the Mystique Flower turned white and Luis immediately grabbed it and put it inside his storage ring. The current of the lake suddenly changed as it dragged Luis towards the depths of the lake and there he saw a glowing spherical object with certain patterns.
"What could this be? Better to keep it, I feel that I have some sort of connection with it." As soon as Luis thought of that, he immediately pulls the object and also put it inside his ring. The surge suddenly stopped as Luis immediately swam upwards to avoid getting drowned.
As soon as he surfaced, a large net caught Luis and dragged him towards the group who are fighting against the Black Cloud Sect. The sect people released him and throw him towards the group in which he bumped into and all of them lose balance.
"You're all quite good! Set up the formation and we'll beat them black and blue!" The leader shouted as 8 members positioned around the group as a barrier suddenly emerged.
"Damn! I can't feel my energy!" Achilleas cursed as he tried to channel his energy around his body.
"Me neither! The energy, it seems that something is preventing it from moving!" Serion confirmed.
"That's because that formation is a barrier and an energy suppression!" The lead stated as the group also entered the barrier and crunched their knuckles.
"Why don't you just kill us?" One of the production students shouted as he tried to defend himself from the punches of two of the Black Cloud Sect members.
"Because the thing that we need is in the hands of that brat!" The man answered and pointed towards Luis.
The sect members beat the group as some of them are fighting equally against 2 or 3 while the others are beaten. Serion and the others are fighting against 2 while Achilleas and Alyssa are fighting against 3 and the remaining 4 members surrounded Luis. Memories of the past surfaced again as Luis's eyes became blank and fear can be seen on his face.
"Oh! Scared out of wits now?" The leader mocked when he saw the young man's expression.
Luis just blankly looked as he received the punches and kicks without defending or attacking back.
"Now, give the flower!" The leader shouted but Luis remained unresponsive.
"If you don't give the flower within a minute, I will kill one member of your group!" The man threatened.
A minute passed and the sect member stabbed one of the combat students as he lay flatly on the ground.
"Rex! No!" Another combat student shouted as he looked at the corpse with teary eyes. Luis remained unresponsive but a tear escaped from his eyes as he tried to fight the fear inside him.
"Still, won't give it up?" The leader asked again and after another minute, one of the production students was beheaded.
"Archie! Damn, Luis! Give the flower up or we'll end up dying!" Another production student berated Luis as she cried while defending against the enemies.
"2 down, 7 to go. Give it up or they'll all end up dead." The leader creepily smiled as he looked towards the unresponsive young man. 2 minutes passed and 2 combat students died name Jericho and Julianne, a brother and sister who fought till the end.
"4 down, 5 to go! Hurry up or every one of them will die!" The leader spoke mockingly as if killing people is as easy as slaying chickens. Another 2 minutes passed and the combat student Kyle and production student Jay died. The only remaining students we're the four of them. Serion, Achilleas, Alyssa, and Luis.
"Damn you dweeb! They all died because you didn't give up that stupid plant!" Achilleas cursed as he viciously punched one of the sect members he tackled that it almost can't be recognized.
"Next is the beautiful lady! Within 20 seconds she will be the next person to die!" The leader laughed as he looked at the girl with malicious eyes.
While everything happened outside, Luis's consciousness kept on struggling free from the fear his trauma gave as he can see everything that happened outside.
"Time's up! Kill the girl!" The leader shouted as one of the members holding a saber rushed towards Alyssa who was defending against four people.
"No! I won't allow that!" Serion shouted as he jumped towards the trajectory of the saber as he received it whole. It pierced towards his chest where his heart is located, he flopped on the ground without moving as life was taken away from the young man.
Luis clearly saw everything in slow motion as if he was watching a real movie where his friend died a brutal death. His mind completely blanked as he stood up limping.
"You killed Serion?" Luis asked in a deep monotone voice.
"So what? If you still refused to give the flower, we will kill all of them at once!" The leader shouted.
Inside Luis's subconsciousness, the gigantic bright orb glowed brightly as it changed its form into a large scale, one of the plates is color white and the other is color black and on the black plate, there was a black orb floating.
"You will regret messing with me! If life is the debt, life will be the payment, and I'll make sure that I will take a very heavy interest among you!"
Luis looked at the enemies with his eyes completely turned grey as it glowed intensely inside the pitch-black forest.