Keir and his team walked out of the door and saw a man standing by the wall of the wooden cabin. The man had a woman-like face and skin pale as snow with long shining white hair in the front and black hair tied behind his head. The man wore a calm expression with glittering blue pupils and sharp, cold eyes.
"Nice to finally meet you in person, Keir, Jin, and Mira. I am very sorry for Raj, and my name's Elric."
The three of them immediately recognized. Fire of revenge burst in their heart and before they realized what they were doing, they had already unsheathed their weapons and had pointed their weapons at Elric.
Elric looked at them and smirked with a small laugh before he turned his back on them and said,
"Follow me."
The three looked at each other and started walking behind Elric with their weapons in their hands.
Before they started walking, Keir noticed two figures entering the cabin. One was a tall figure, while the other was a shorter figure.
They had walked a few steps when Keir looked back at the cabin and saw scarlet-red light shining out of the cabin's window, painting the trees and bushes red as well.
Keir turned his back and started walking with the others in the cold, dense air of the night.
The moon was shining brightly, canceling the need for light for them to walk, but obstacles such as broken tree branches and large stones remained.
The three of them stumbled and walked on the brickle soil with silence between them until Jin broke it with an unnerving question.
"What are you going to do with us? And the pair of people that went, are they the same as us?"
"Hmm, for the first question let's say, we are going to make a deal with you with your free will, and this time you will have the free will to decline it and continue with your life, and for the second question, yes. That one was the same as you, but they are here of their own will and not forced to do the trial like you."
Elric answered with his usual cheery tone.
"They have their free will. Why were we not given our free choice?"
This time Mira asked angrily.
"Well, there are dungeons where you have your wish and somewhere you don't. It was unfortunate for you."
Elric said, with not a single bit of sympathy.
They walked in the cold light of the moon until they reached a familiar place.
They entered a place with no trees and felt like a dead end. They had reached the bottom of a cliff is what it looked at first glance, but if noticed closer, there was a dark cave.
It was the place Keir used as shelter.
A figure came out of the cave, holding a dangling lamp of light in his hands. The man stopped by the cave while the four neared the man holding the light.
The man raised the dangling lamp to see the faces of the people coming toward him.
As he raised the dangling lamp his face got visible by the light of the lamp.
The first thing that the four noticed was the man's long bush-like grey beard and big yellow eyes. His nose looked pointy and was bald with a shining head. That man had a very rough and barbaric look to him.
The moment Keir and that barbaric-looking man laid eyes on each other, both of them immediately recognized each other's faces.
The man's big eyes widened, and he smiled at Keir while he just knitted his eyebrows at the unexpected reunion.
That was the man to whom Keir fought and lost twice.
The man waved his hand at Keir and walked into the cave. Without stopping, the four of them walked behind that man.
"My name's Oscar."
The man said in a deep voice while walking.
Keir looked around and it reminded him of the underground mission they did with Raj. It was dark and the sour smell of blood and soil disgusted their nose.
They had walked fairly deep in the cave and Keir noticed many tunnels where few were lit and few were pitch black that they had not entered. He had also noticed tall people in black robes entering and leaving tunnels with lamps.
The five hadn't reached the end when they stopped in front of a lit room with no door but a rough entrance to enter.
They entered the place and Keir looked around and saw it was lit with another dim lamp. It was a place that roughly made any space.
In front of the five sat a man on a chair as stared at papers in front of his face. He held the papers with his hand on the support with a table beside him with white piles of written papers.
The man that sat wore a black hooded robe. The hood covered his face in the darkness, but his eyes were visible. A sharp orange light shined in his perceptive eyes.
"Keir Gaelic Garcia, Mira Rose and Jin Gian. I don't have time to waste, so let us get to the point. We are willing to give you strength and knowledge. If you join our forces and we can't disclose any information about us for now and the only hint we can give you is, *Study of Qi* "
The man said a solemn tone of words.
"Alright."
Immediately Jin and Keir's voices replied.
Mira was shocked and with widened eyes, she looked at the two boys beside her. She almost felt betrayed because she did not expect that reply considering their silent and clever personalities.
She hesitated for a couple of minutes and she concluded that she was going to decline that offer.
Why would she consider an offer made by someone whose face she can't see and who had killed one of her friends?
But for Keir and Jin. They would have declined that offer if the phrase *Study of Qi* was not raised.
"Noo! I very much like to decline your offer."
"Well then, Oscar? Would you mind escorting Ms Mira out?"
The hooded man said politely.
Oscar let out a smirk and walked out of the room while Mira followed.