Druak had been planning to stop the Dragon egg theft since the moment he learned of it as he knew that it was the core reason for the destruction of countless valuable buildings and the massacre of thousands of Argonaut Kingdom citizens.
At first, Druak had no plans of asking for help from a noble, especially one like Raya who seemed to be part of an incredibly powerful noble family. Druak's mind had completely shifted after hearing Raya's pleas for help, it even included a bonus of getting a teacher who would help him understand and control his unusually pure mana.
Druak looked toward Raya, who had an anxious look on her face.
'Is he not going to help. I guess I should have expected this from people of a lesser kingdom.'
Raya's fiery mana began to surge out, as she seemed to be planning to silence Druak. But her mana was quickly dispersed as she heard Druak's next words.
"I'll help you."
Raya's face beamed joyfully, as she was happy that she had gained an ally and didn't have to dispose of another person.
"But I have some more conditions." Raya was so excited that she had someone who, unlike the noble she had conversed with, seemed to actually not have insatiable greed and lust. However, now that Druak had finished speaking, and she finally heard all his words, her expression soon turned back to being cold and disgusted, as if she was looking at nothing but dirt.
Raya's expression became incredibly cold as she commanded Druak. "What do you want!!!" Her hand once again pressed down against the sword which was strapped to her waist.
Druak could hear the hostility in Raya's voice but knew that he had to ask for this as he desperately needed it and couldn't get it with his current strength. "I need the core from an Icebane Wolf, and it needs to be from a peak 3rd stage one."
Raya's expression shifted once again to confusion as she asked. "Wait, Is that it… Is that all you want."
"What do you mean is that…." Druak stopped what he was saying as he realised that wasn't important and took a breath then calmly asked. "So can you do it or not."
Raya moved her hand away from her sword as an indiscernible smile appeared on her face. "Yeah I can get it, but it'll probably take a month or two since I'll need to find some trustworthy 4th stages to hunt it down."
As Druak heard this he unintentionally blurted out. "Wait, only 2 months" Raya ignored this and began to explain different details that she wanted Druak to know before they parted ways.
Both Raya and Druak discussed amongst each other for a few more minutes before eventually separating as it was getting close to the academy's first lesson.
As Raya disappeared around the corner of the arena a small figure, which was far smaller than Raya, materialised beside her.
"What have you learned about him." Raya's relaxed expression, which she started to have from conversing with Druak, was now back to its usual self.
"Um… I'm sorry miss but we learned almost nothing. All we know is that he's from a small village on the outskirts of the Argonaut kingdom and that he seems to be friends with two commoners called Isaac and Sirah…" The cloaked individual seemed to hesitate as she said. "Miss there is something that might shock you that we found."
"Oh, and what's that."
"Um. Well. After sneaking into the entrance forms we learned who he got the acceptance letter from… It's from Tobius the Black Griffon of Argonaut."
"WHAT!!! I thought he died in the war that took place 100 years ago." Raya was so shocked she couldn't control her emotions and ended up releasing her mana. "Find out where that village is NOW! And make sure to bring my master's. We don't know if he's still an ally."
Raya recalled all the stories her father had told her and one in particular stuck out. The story of the black griffon, the one who destroyed entire armies single-handedly.
Fear grew in Raya's heart as she thought. 'Just who the hell is that guy and what's his connection with the Black Griffon.'
The reason for Raya's fear was completely reasonable, as just having the Black Griffon and the kingdom's prince had allowed the Argonaut kingdom to be one of the strongest kingdoms on the entire continent. This was all in the past as both the prince and the Black Griffon were believed to be dead or at least that's what Raya had been told.
'I'll have to keep a closer eye on Druak than I originally planned.' Raya couldn't risk Druak messing up her plans, and needed to make sure she knew as much as she could about Druak before she could fully trust him.
Unbenoced to Raya, she wasn't the only one who was being careful. Hidden behind one of the arena pillars the shadow of a figure could be seen observing Raya and listening in on her conversation.
As Druak listened in on their conversation, a name he recognised was spoken which led to Druak almost blurting out. That's my dad's name. Luckily he managed to stop himself as he knew that it could lead to his location being revealed.
After learning enough useful information Druak decided to quietly withdraw, so as not to risk being found.
Walking to his class Druak muttered. "Guess I'm gonna have to be careful with what I do around here. At least I don't have to worry about getting one of the requirements for my stage up now."
Just as Druak was muttering under his breath a heavy hand slammed against his back. "Looks like we'll be in the same class this year. I'm looking forward to sparring with you."
Slowly Druak turned around, and as he did so he saw the giant grin on Oscar's face as he wrapped his arm around Druaks shoulder. At first, Druak tried to stop Oscar but soon gave up after realising Oscar's strength far exceeded his own.
They walked to class and opened the entrance to the classroom.
Druak looks back towards the location Raya was and thinks about what he should say to his dad when they next meet.