[Next Day.]
All the demons gathered in front of Aaron's house, waiting to send him off.
"I heard the prince is going to bring Emily back."
"But why is he bringing her back?"
"I don't know."
"I heard a rumor that he loves her."
"What? Are you sure about this?"
"I'm not, but aren't they too young?"
"To us Demons, age is useless... I myself, married my husband when I'm just 16."
"Me 17."
"Yeah, Emily is Lucky, the prince is both handsome and powerful."
"Yeah, he's so dreaming."
"What about the princess and the Queen?"
"Well... They aren't demons, but are our princess and Queen, so we need to treat them as one."
"True... The Queen is one of the most beautiful woman I have ever seen."
"Won't your wife be angry with you for calling another woman "beautiful"?"
"Hahaha... I don't care."
"Hahaha!! Same!"
The Door of the house opened, and all the demons quiet down, staring at Aaron, Aurora, Protean, Lilly and Elizabeth who walked out.
"What are you all doing here?" Aaron asked with an amazed smile.
"We all are here to send his majesty off." Chief Egon stepped forward.
"Yes."
All the demons nodded in agreement.
"Thank you all for your care, and good wishes, I'm very happy... I want to clear a rumor." Aaron moved his gaze around the small number of demons in front of him.
"Emily is mine, and only mine in this lifetime and the next..."
"Wow."
"I told you."
"Emily is so lucky."
"And I have good news!"
The demons quiet down again:
"The Flesh Eaters' Forest in the first Continent is now my territory, from now onwards, our kingdom is now known as Terra."
"Terra."
"I don't know the meaning, but I like it!"
"Same!!"
"We'll be going now." Aaron placed his sword on his back, and nodded at them.
"Be safe, and don't attack your grandfather, at least not at the moment."
He nodded. "I won't Mom, but if he gets in my way, I don't mind killing him."
Aurora thought for a moment, then nodded. "Be careful... We'll miss you."
"Yes brothers!" Lilly added.
"You don't have to worry so much, and besides, who can match us in the whole three Continents?" Protean asked.
"Fufufufu... No one." Lilly answered with a chuckled.
The space before them distorted, and a gateway appeared.
"We'll get going, now." He walked towards the gateway. "Protean!"
"I'm coming!" Protean quickly hugged Lilly and Aurora, then rushed towards him.
"Bye!!" He yelled, as Aaron pulled him inside the gateway.
"Ok everyone! Back to your daily business!" Chief Egon yelled.
_____
[First Continent.]
[50 Miles from Protectors Academy.]
Aaron and Protean walked out of the gateway, and looked around the empty path in confusion.
Both sides of the path in front of them was filled with trees, they both looked behind them, not even seeing the ending of the road.
"So we appeared in the middle of no where?" Protean muttered looking around.
"These are the rules." Aaron suddenly started.
"Pardon? What Rules are you talking about?" Protean asked with a slight frown.
"First: Don't speak, I don't care if you are angry, mad or even want to excuse yourself, as long a stranger is with us, no speaking."
"Huh? Are you putting me on Mute?!"
"Second rule: --"
"--Wait! What if we want to kill the stranger(s)."
Aaron thought for a moment, and replied: "You can speak."
"You are annoying."
"Second rule: Only take the form of the Raven, you aren't around to use any other skills, or form."
"What?!" Protean gasped in shock. "You are crossing the line!"
"Third rule: Always stay close to me! I don't want you running around or causing trouble, we are here to bring Emily back, not draw attention to ourselves."
"But..." He paused, and sighed: "You are right." He took the appearance of the Raven, and landed on his shoulder.
"What if we are alone?"
"Didn't you listen to the first rule? You must be mute when there are strangers around, but if it's only me or Emily, you can scream your vocal cord out if you want."
"Thanks heaven." Protean looked around the place.
"Where to now? Are we heading to the front or back?" He asked.
"Front." Aaron started walking.
_____
[One Hour Later!!]
"Ahh!! We have been walking for an hour now! Can't we rest for a moment?!" Protean grumbled.
"How do you know it's already an hour?"
"Follow the sun's direction? It's one of this form's powers."
Aaron looked up at the sun, then at the Raven sitting on his shoulder. "You are really something."
"Stop there!!!!"
Aaron came to a stop, staring at the men in front of him, he looked over his shoulder, seeing ten more behind him, all armed with weapons.
"Bandit." He muttered in mild surprised.
"No young man, We are Mercenaries!" The bald head man, in a leather Armor, and a sword on his waist said.
"Bandits calling themselves mercenaries, how ironic."
"Hey young man, We can see you have a familiar, and this road leads to the Protractors Academy, which means; you are going for the registration which is happening tomorrow, right?"
"How smart." Aaron smirked.
"We won't steal from you, as I said; we are mercenaries, not bandits. So we'll ask you for your belongings... Asking and taking have different meaning, don't you get?"
"Hahaha!!" Aaron laughed out loud. "I don't get!" He added, with a sneer.
"You are one weird kid, shouldn't you be scared or anything? Bring out your belongings from your space, let's take a look, or do you want us to scare you more?"
"Scare me more?" He scoffed:
"I would like to kill all of you, but I have a question."
"Go on, young man."
"How many land do you control? Like your territories?"
"Uh?" The man was stunned. "No one have ever asked us such question, let me think." He held his chin, thinking about Aaron's question.
After some Seconds, he finally opened his mouth:
"I'll say... All these forest is ours."
"Nice, at least you said the truth... This is my offer to all of you."
The bandits or mercenaries looked at each other In confusion, a kid looking around 10 years old want to give then an offer.
"Join me, and you'll be rich for eternity."
"Huh?"
They were all stunned in place.