Alexander did not think Ray would come this far after witnessing the destructive effects of the explosion that Ray had caused. With proper guidance from a teacher, Alexander felt that Ray's current strength would be even more powerful.
'But to think he was injured to this state. I wonder who attacked him…' Alexander thought as he flew back to the city while carrying Ray who had his eyes closed for recuperation.
Too bad, Alexander arrived a little bit late at the scene and only saw the explosion. With Alexander's unfathomable speed, they soon arrived at the Golden Inn and headed towards the garden.
"Listen up, Ray." Alexander spoke up.
"I'm listening."
"We have an important guest who visited after Kaya took you away. So, try not to be rude towards him." Alexander instructed.
"Sir, yes sir!" Ray nodded.
Not before long, they reached where the group were and Ray saw Lobian accompanying an elder humanoid creature. The elder was looking at him with a smile.
"RAY?!" Ash's concerned voice broke the initial silence. He saw Ray in tattered clothes and a few bruises marked along his body.
"What happened?" Bryan frowned.
"Ah, you guys know Bane and Brax from the tournament?" Ray asked as he sat on the patchy ground to relax.
"The black robed and white robed men?" Algo said.
"Yeah, them. Well, they ambushed me with three other dudes after Kaya left." Ray nodded.
"What happened after that?" Asif frowned and asked.
"I tried fighting them without my elemental powers at first but I quickly was at the losing end. So, I had enough of their bullshit and used my elemental power. I don't know what happened to them after my final attack but they seemed to be covered with a golden light before my attack reached them. Their faces were filled with fear different from when they faced me as if something scared them more than me." Ray perked his eyebrow at Alexander.
"Hmm, they must be the Black Devils then." Lobian uttered.
"The what now?" Bryan stupidly asked.
"The Black Devils. They are a notorious mercenary group famed for wiping out their targets in a cruel and bloodthirsty way. No one knows their identity or from where they came from. All I know is they had a 100% success rate with their missions until now." Lobian explained.
*PAT*
"That's our younger idiot right here." Ash patted Ray's back with pride for driving Bane and Brax away. The others nodded with a smile.
"It was kind of scary. I could feel their killing intent towards me but I was ready." Ray said with eyes full of intense determination.
"Stupid brat, here take this." Old man Reid shook his head and handed him a small green pellet.
Ray caught it and asked confusedly, "What the hell is this, old man?"
"That's a healing pill. Now eat it and all your injuries will be healed." Old man Reid explained.
"Woahhh…" Ash stared at the pill with incredulity.
"Pills?" Bryan tilted his head.
"Are they tasty?" Algo was excited.
Ray fiddled with the pill before consuming the pill. Instantly he felt a soothing and refreshing energy explode in his body and quickly healing the injuries he sustained. He also felt his mind in a much better state from before.
The fight with the Bane and Brax put a mental toll in his mind. Just because he was fine on the outside did not mean he was doing well in the inside. He did not want to appear weak in front of his brothers.
"I feel fantastic…" Ray stretched his arm and excitedly said.
"Scrolls, pills…what else?" Asif muttered.
"Ray, meet Mister Xerath, master of Lobian and the strongest mage in the Aeron Empire." Alexander introduced the old man to Ray.
'Master of Lobian? The strongest mage?! What the fuck is going on here?' Ray thought as he greeted the old man, "Nice to meet you, Mister Xerath."
An aged voice sounded out from Mister Xerath, "Now, the group of five is back together and complete. How marvelous."
"You should thank Mister Xerath as he informed us that you were in trouble." Zac informed Ray.
"Thank you for your kind reminder, Mister Xerath." Ray slightly bowed and thanked him. But inside he was disgruntled. 'What do you mean in trouble?! I totally would destroy their asses.'
Mister Xerath waved his hand and said, "I have to leave now but before that, let me tell you something."
"The five of you brothers have obscure destinies. Fate doesn't bend to anyone's will but you five are different. The universe is vast and unimaginable filled with countless dangers, opportunities and the beyond. I have a feeling you five are going to do the unimaginable." Mister Xerath stopped there and let the brothers sink in his words.
"Come, Lobian. It's time for us to leave and I'll teach you something."
"Yes, Master." Lobian nodded excitedly.
"Thank you for visiting us and helping Ray, Mister Xerath." Alexander and the other two leaders bowed in his direction.
"It was nothing much." Mister Xerath smiled.
"Bye, guys. I'll see you tomorrow in the arena." Lobian waved the brothers a farewell and vice versa. Eventually the two disappeared from their line of sight and the group was back to normal.
"Alright, you kids rest up for tomorrow. We'll head back." Old man Reid instructed before the three leaders of the HFA left the vicinity.
"Is it me or did we just overlook the fact that Lobian's master is the strongest mage in the Aeron Empire, stronger than the Battle King…" Ash slowly said.
"Uhhh…" Ray opened his mouth stupidly.
"Literally, just what the fuck is going on. Kaya took Ray away, Mister Xerath popped out of nowhere, Ray gets ambushed, Mister Xerath is Lobian's master, and before leaving he tells us some vague ass shit." Bryan rubbed his head.
"I think he needed to eat something." Algo said while chewing on a snack.
"The universe is very interesting. There are things like scrolls and pills. Imagine what else must be there. Can we make them…?" Asif's eyes were shining with pure interest and curiosity.
"Ah, it's been a while since we saw something excite him to this degree." Algo said.
"We are literally in a different planet after all." Ash shrugged.
"Since Bane and Brax are out, I wonder what they're going to do to fill those empty positions." Ray wondered.
"We'll find out tomorrow." Bryan said.
"Ray, while you were not here, Lobian told us that the Mystical Stairs doesn't mean much for the final round. There are participants that have honed their battle skills to the extreme which would prove challenging for us, not to mention Urza." Ash explained.
"I see this from a different perspective. Fighting them would hone our battle instinct and give us the experience that we need. Of course, it may or may not be difficult but c'mon, it's us. When have we ever backed down from a challenge?" Bryan said as a matter of fact.
"You're getting good at this, Bryan." Algo smirked.
"Now, I'm fucking pumped up." Ash pumped his fist.
"Glorious indeed." Asif nodded.
"I gotta say though that the pill the old man gave me is fucking sublime." Ray scoured his body for any remaining injuries.
"You think there'll be a pill that won't make us hungry?" Bryan asked.
"I'm 100% sure there are pills that do that." Ash confidently said.
"I hope not…" Algo muttered.
"I wonder what other mystifying item is out there in the universe!" Asif pondered.
"Oh, that reminds me, we need fucking weapons." Ray abruptly spoke up.
"Why?" Ash confusedly asked.
"When I was ambushed, some of them used swords against me and I did feel a bit threatened by it although they were at a much lower elemental realm than me. I feel we'll be even more powerful with weapons." Ray answered.
"We're not sure if the tournament allows us to bring weapons for the final round." Algo said.
"We'll just have to find out tomorrow." Asif shrugged.
-Somewhere far away in the distant space-
*Rumble*
A bright light appeared in the middle of nowhere and two figures tumbled onto the ground from the light. The two figures were in tatters and badly bruised.
"At least we made it out alive…" Brax uttered weakly.
"Hm!" Bane grunted in pain
"It's a good thing we escaped but where are we…" Brax looked around and just saw a barren wasteland. There was nothing in sight, no sign of flora and fauna, just pure land and nothing else on it.
*Zing*
Suddenly, a portal appeared in front of the two and out stepped a shadowy figure whose appearance could not be seen. Brax and Bane tensed up, ready to give it their all against the mysterious figure. The mysterious figure just stared at the two with its two white flaming eyes.
"Perfect…" A low eerie voice sounded out from the mysterious figure. Brax could feel goosebumps appearing on his hands.
"Who are you and what do you want?" Brax asked trying not to appear scared.
"Follow me if you want to live…" With that, the mysterious figure went back to the portal and the portal waited for their answer.
"Let's go." Bane said.
"Wait, what if it's a trap?" Brax stopped Bane and anxiously asked.
"We'll be dead if we don't go." Bane bluntly said.
"*Sigh*" Brax sighed and followed Bane into the portal.
*Zwoop*
-Back to the garden with the brothers-
"Oh right, I have to tell you guys something important that happened before I got ambushed." Ray smiled.
"What is it?" Bryan and the others were curious now that he brought it up.
"I finally had my first kiss and that too with Kaya!" Ray proudly said.
"My fucking man!!" Bryan smiled and smacked his back.
"Congratulations motherfucker!" Ash congratulated, happy for him.
"You had your first kiss with an alien too." Algo gave him a thumbs up.
"Well played." Asif nodded.
"Now that I found someone. I can't wait for you fucks to meet someone." Ray gave them an evil smile.
"Relax dumbass, it'll be a while before any of us manages to find anyone." Ash said.
"God knows, how you managed to make the literal princess like you." Bryan shrugged.
"Don't blame me, blame the game." Ray chuckled.
-In the Royal Palace-
Kayill was on the throne with a hand on his head, pondering about something until the sudden sound of the entrance door opening. He saw both his children entering the hall.
"Is something the matter?" Kayill gently asked while carefully observing their expression.
"Father, I heard that there's going to be a change in the number of participants for tomorrow's final round?" Khai inquisitively asked.
"Indeed! There will be only 98 participants for tomorrow. Unfortunately, two participants named Bane and Brax have disappeared off to somewhere after attacking another participant." Kayill revealed.
"What?!" Kaya was surprised.
"Ah, it's those two robed contestants." Khai rubbed his chin.
"Why did they attack someone?" Kaya was confused.
"Who was it they attacked?" Khai asked.
Kayill smiled and said, "Ray Ang-"
*Wham*
The two males saw Kaya instantly dash out of the palace and smiled wryly at her anxiousness and eagerness.
"Khai, keep her safe."
"As always!" Khai smiled and left the Royal Palace.
*Sigh*
The Battle King sighed and shook his head, "They have grown up so fast, and yet I still see them as babies."
He stood up and walked away from the throne to an unsuspecting wall. He gently pressed the wall and an outline of a door appeared signifying a hidden entrance to somewhere. Kayill entered the secret door and walked along the corridor.
Not before long, he arrived in a spacious room and stared ahead. In the center of the room, a chilly ice coffin was seen floating gently above the floor. In the ice coffin was a beautiful female Aeron that exuded a familiar regal aura and a fierce presence.
Kayill walked towards the coffin and gently stroked her face, "When will you be back, my love?"