When Clifford got to John's house, he was welcomed with a stunned expression from John. John was dumbfounded by Clifford's appearance changes, he knew right away that Clifford had broken through to another stage of the basic rank, which was the reason why his appearance had improved a lot but be couldn't tell which stage it was. Some mages appearance were known to improve the stronger they get and Clifford happened to be one of them. No Magic aura and Mana is emanating from his body, one couldn't tell what rank he is. He had completely concealed them.
John noticed that there was this confident atmosphere around Clifford, he couldn't help but feel a tinge of fear.
"Hey mate." Clifford greeted.
"Hey! John replied dully.
Clifford noticed the dullness in John's voice and was worried. John has always been lively despite the trauma he had in the past. "What could possibly go wrong to make him sad." Clifford thought. "What's wrong with you mate?" Clifford asked.
"It's nothing."
"That's an obvious lie. Come on! Tell me brother." Clifford persisted while he looked John in the eye.
"It's nothing much bro, I mean I'm just sad you're leaving, it'll be me alone. Your company has kept me going all this years. You're more than a friend to me, more like a blood brother. You're the only family I've got." John said sadly.
Clifford just stood there, bitterness swelling inside of him. All these past years, he was the only friend known with John. They were friends since Clifford was eight years old when he moved to this city and now, he would have to leave his dear friend for Sun City. He hasn't really thought about how his absence would affect John, he has been selfish and focused only on the mission, not caring about his friend. He had planned to brought his mother and Lyla to Sun City, but what of John? He would be left alone again in this cruel world. Clifford felt remorseful, he knew he had to do something, he couldn't leave John here forever. He looked John in the face and he saw his eyes clouded with tears, he walked up to him, hugged him and patted his back.
"You mean a lot to me mate, I won't leave you here forever, just a few months and I'll be back to take you there too, I promise."
"Really? John asked with hopeful eyes.
"Yeah mate, we are blood brothers remember?
"Yeah! John replied with a little smile, knowing he would later join Clifford in Sun City brightened up his mood. He just had to wait a few months.
Clifford hugged him more tightly and ruffled his spiked hair. "Everything's going to be alright brother." He whispered into John's ear.
John shook his head positively. "So what rank are you now? He asked Clifford.
"Still at the basic rank, third stage of the basic rank." Clifford answered.
"That's frightening mate, you're making rapid progress, I mean that's too fast mate. I've never heard of a mage advancing so quickly." John exclaimed.
Clifford scratched the back of his head. "Was that too fast? Two weeks seemed like eternity to me."
"It's freaking fast, you're able to conceal your Aura and Mana completely. That's frightening, you're just a basic mage mate." John said excitedly.
"I'm about to break though to the intermediate rank but I couldn't. What will I do to achieve the breakthrough?"
"You're about to what? You're kidding right?" John chuckled.
"Hey! I'm not joking." Clifford frowned. He released his Aura for John to feel. It was indeed the aura of a peak basic mage. John was dumbfounded, he couldn't understand how Clifford turned out to be so frightening.
Clifford noticed John's dumbfounded expression, he shook his head and withdrew his Aura.
"More reasons why I should conceal my powers." He thought to himself.
"So how will I advance to the intermediate rank." He asked John again.
"You need better control over your current abilities. A lot of practice and duels with other mages will be enough to push the breakthrough to the bottleneck. You'll have a lot of duels in the academy, and there are courts where you can practice your abilities." John said.
"Hhmmmm." Clifford nodded thoughtfully.
"How about some practice tonight?" He asked John.
"Do you have practice dummies? or you're going to start running around hunting rabbits."
"I've got an idea." Clifford grinned widely. John knew whenever Clifford grinned like that, he's planning a crazy idea, so whatever idea Clifford has got in his mind is definitely a wicked one.
"What idea is it? John asked.
"Wait till evening." Clifford replied with the wicked grin still wide on his face.
John had no choice, he just signed and then he started to ask Clifford a lot of questions about his breakthrough.
When it was evening Clifford led John to the part of the city where crime rate is high.
"What are we doing in this part of the city." John asked with fear written all over his face. The place they were currently in is the most perilous part of the city. The criminal class of the people lived there, it was known as the Underworld of Avalon city.
Clifford didn't reply to John's question, he kept walking quickly and the latter had no choice but to follow closely behind. When they got to a narrow street, they saw a gang there, they were about nine in number. They were all carrying weapons with them. When they sighted Clifford and John, they walked up to them while also blocking off any possible escape way. After Clifford and John got surrounded, one of the gangsters walked up to them, he seemed to be the leader, he was carrying a baseball bat and a Glock while puffing the smokes from his Cigar.
A gang walking in to another gang's territory means trying to put up a fight which could led to a gang war between the two parties. So seeing two people in their territory, they had to be wary of them, they thought Clifford and John might be spies for a rival gang.
"What are yah fishes doing right here in my territory?" The gang leader said with a wicked grin while barring his rotten teeth at Clifford and John."
Clifford didn't reply, he only looked up the gang leader in the eye with a confident grin. John on the other hand was standing there, his whole body shaking due to fear of what might happen. How would he and Clifford overpower nine armed men? The odds were not in their favor at all. He knew Clifford is powerful enough to take on a few men but taking on nine men would be too difficult for Clifford.
"What has this foolish boy gotten us into? Is this his foolish idea? How on Earth will we get out of this trouble. John lamented in his mind. Fear written all over his face.
Clifford's silence and Confident grin infuriated the gang leader. "Do you not have me in your eyes at all? I said what are yah doing in my territory. The gang leader spat furiously.
Clifford grinned wickedly while walking up to the gang leader. He released his aura and looked the gang leader in the eye. The gang leader had an uneasy feeling swelling inside of him, he knew he had to be wary of Clifford.
"How about you guys be my practice dummies for the night?" Clifford said with a wicked smile.