Ren walked towards the group with a frown, his good mood this morning was completely ruined. As he walked, Ren thought about Elios's attack. That attack actually surprised him, if he didn't have the shadow jump ability, he would've been struck head on.
'King, is Elios stronger than yesterday? Am I imagining things?'
When Ren looked down at his arm, he was surprised at what King was doing. Normally, King would be napping, lazing about on his arm. However, the ever lazy King was now standing, fixating his eyes on Elios.
'Ren, look closely at his hair.'
Although Ren didn't know why he was doing this, he still complied. Focusing King's power into his eyes, Ren stared intently at the back of Elios's head.
'...White hair? is he stressed or something?'
Ren continued to observe, trying to see anything out of place. As moments pass without any change, Ren grew bored of observing. Just as Ren decides to stop observing, he noticed a change. There on Elios's head, an originally golden strand of hair dyed itself silver, changing the hair's colour at noticeable speed.
'His hair is turning silver, what does that mean?'
Ren stopped his observation, patiently waiting for King's reply. When the tiger in question noticed Ren's gaze, he looked up to answer his question.
'Human hair doesn't do that normally, but when humans offer their body to a primal demon, they slowly turn into the Primal demon's human form. This means that Elios offered his hair for power, he's on the path of no return.'
The atmosphere between King and Ren grew solemn, stopping any conversation as Ren walked.
"Are you okay big brother?"
Hearing a familiar voice, Ren turned around to face Nina, who was looking at Ren's expression with concern. As Ren tried to make a friendlier face, Nina rummaged through her bag. *Rustle Rustle*
"Aha! Here you go big brother, this always makes me feel better!"
Nina held out her hand, trying to give Ren a chocolate bar. Ren looked at the earnest expression on Nina with a genuine smile, his dark mood seemed to melt away. Ren walked closer to Nina, patting her head.
"It's okay, I feel better now. Thanks Nina."
Smiling as Ren patted her head, Nina carefully put away the chocolate bar. This action caused Ren's mood to lighten even more, because Nina was willing to part with something so precious to her.
"I won't steal it, Don't worry. Let's get back to the group."
Nina nodded, putting her backpack back on. As the two walked back, they chatted happily about the anything, making small games to entertain themselves. But when they reached the group, Ren and Elios made eye contact.
"You're here, ready to start?"
Ren looked at Elios's hair, more silver hair seems to be there now. This matched with King's explanation, so Ren focused his attention back to Elios. Feeling his expression turn cold, Ren nodded.
"Remember the loser's condition, I'm sure it'll be helpful to you."
After saying his piece, Elios walked away, keeping his eyes out for mutant beasts. Ren calmed himself down, before also beginning his search. As Ren scanned his surroundings, he noticed Jun and Nina staring at him.
"Ren, what was that?"
Jun looked at Ren in confusion, he couldn't understand the conversation between Ren and Elios just now. Waiting for Ren to give an explanation, Jun and Nina looked expectantly at Ren, giving the aura of two curious puppies. Under the expectant gaze of the two kids, Ren caved, explaining the competition to the two.
"Ahhh! This is our chance Ren. Beat Elios, and kick him out of the group!"
Looking at the excited Jun, Ren sighed.
"If only it were that easy. Remember Jun, Elios is stronger than me right now."
Expecting Jun to wilt in defeat, Ren waited for this reaction. But seconds pass, and Jun still had a confident smile on his face.
"Hehe, that's okay. If you can kill the beasts, I have a secret way to find more mutant beasts..."