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In a big mansion over at the city of Khan, a young man was peacefully sleeping, when a loud commotion suddenly woke him up. “What the hell is going on?” the young man angrily yelled as he rushed out of his lavish room. Outside of his room, stood two maids who bowed respectfully to the young man. “Master, a report just came in. Two warriors were killed within the city.” One of the maids said.

“So what? Why the hell did you disturb my sleep because of this nonsense?” The young man responded in obvious anger.

“Master, sir Bolget and sir Manul were the ones that got killed.” The maid hastily responded.

“What?” The young man uncontrollable asked in shock. “Where is Vice captain Lindel?”

“Master, Vice captain Lindel is waiting outside.”

 

The young man rushed back into his room to quickly change his attire. If it had been two lower level warriors that had died, it wouldn’t really be much of an issue that he had to intervene, but the current situation was that two elementary level warriors were killed within the city of Kahn. That was an unforgivable crime. That represented a significant drop in the military power of the Khan household. It wasn’t particularly easy to recruit or train elementary energy level experts, and now they had lost two in one night.

“Lindel, what the hell happened?” The young man said as he rushed out of the house. He looked particularly tense as he stared at Lindel waiting for a response.

“Captain Kaylin.” the woman, Lindel, said as she immediately bowed.

“How did Bolget and Manul end up dead?” Kaylin asked again.

“Not sure about the details captain, but Oaklif from the Bastich house reported that he witnessed the entire thing.”

“Where is Oaklif?” Kaylin asked impatiently.

“He is waiting at camp one.”

Kaylin, Lindel and the surrounding guards quickly made their way back to camp one, where Lindel had previously interrogated Oaklif before placing him on arrest. “How could this have happened? How would I be able to explain what had happened here today to the other captains and the Kahn household?” Kaylin thought as he rushed to the camp that Oaklif was currently being held. One of Kaylin’s biggest fears was that the culprits would have escaped from the city without anyone noticing. And if that were to happen, even his position wouldn’t be safe.

“Who the hell are these rogue martial artist the Bastich ***** brought to my city?” Kaylin inwardly cursed. Right now, he was in a terrible mood and also quite nervous. Although he was stronger than Moore, Bolget and Manul, he wasn’t completely confident in his ability to take on the three of them at the same time and come out without any significant injury. “Hmm. He must have used an unknown method to defeat them. Anyone that capable would be well known around the kingdom.”

Not long after they set out, they reached the camp. Oaklif was placed in a room awaiting some interrogation. Oaklif sat on a chair at one corner of a table, with his arms tied up. As Kaylin walked into the room, the atmosphere immediately changed. From his demeanor, it was clear that he was angry and impatient. “How the hell did Bolget and Manul end up dead?” he asked.

“Captain, sir Bolget and Manul were helping me reprehend a criminal of the Bastich household, when they were blindsided by one of the criminals.” Oaklif responded.

“Blindsided you say.” Kaylin said as he slowly walked towards Oaklif. From the look on Kaylin’s face, Oaklif could tell Kaylin wasn’t buying his story. Oaklif’s expression immediately as he tried to get up and explain. Before he could move, Kaylin slammed his palm on the table in front of him, instantly disintegrating the entire table to fine dust. That drove a new found sense of fear in Oaklif’s mind. At this point, Oaklif knew he was walking a fine line between life and death.

“Do you take me for a fool?” Kaylin said as he walked closer towards Oaklif.

“No captain. Let me explain.” Oaklif said before he began narrating the exact account of what had happened from his perspective. Bravery was never one of Oaklif’s qualities, and after Kaylin’s display, Oaklif gave up any sense loyalty. Out of fear for his life Oaklif even narrated the entire story, including his instructions from the crowned prince of the Bastich household.

Moments later, Kaylin left the camp with an even bigger frown on his face. “Damn the Bastich household. What kind problem have they brought to my city?” Kaylin caused as he and a group of warriors rushed to the Rosemary inn. Within a couple of minutes, Kaylin’s group of warriors got to the vicinity of the Rosemary inn. On their way to the inn, Kaylin had been thinking about the entire situation, and from what Oaklif had told him about the youth that was the leader of the group, he wasn’t completely certain in their victory. With more thought on the situation Kaylin decided it was best he approached the situation with some caution.

“Listen up, none of you should enter the inn with me. Wait out here and let me know if you see anything suspicious.” Kaylin said as he walked in. As Kaylin

*************

Over at the northern borders of the southern continent, the fighting had mysteriously stopped. Not even a single northern warrior could be seen within the borders. This mysterious event had sent tremors through the ranks of generals at the northern border. Within one of the camps at the northern border, there was a meeting of the generals of the southern continent army currently ongoing.

“This is an unprecedented event in the history of the four continents. We need stride with caution, or else we might fall into a well planned scheme.” A tall lanky man, who had a general armor on said.

“I disagree, general Lunell.” A short bulky man, said as he got up. “I think the various kingdoms of the north are feeling our overwhelming strength and have finally cowed into hiding.” He said as he took of his helmet, showing his wildly grown beard and disheveled balding hair. “I say we strike now while the cut is still fresh and put an end to all this.” He said ending his statement.

“An unguided response to a situation we do not fully grasp cannot be our immediate course of action. With all due respect general Gardez, what you are suggesting could disable the entire southern continent,” the tall lanky man responded.

More arguments for both side were going on as the generals tried to come to a decision on what to do. Seated quietly at the far end of the conversation was someone that Willard was familiar with. This was lord Jayesh of the Gerret household. He quietly observed the discussion without adding to them. Jayesh was currently preoccupied with thoughts of his own. “What did the metal saint mean by all that? Could that be related to what is happening here at the Northern borders?” He thought before moving his gaze to the tall lanky man who was currently speaking.

“I employ you to be prudent, and not give way to your emotions. Right now, more than ever, we need to be calm and study the situation. It is my recommendation that we send a party to go investigate the situation within the northern states.” The tall lanky man, general Lunell, said.

“I second general Lunell’s suggestion,” Jayesh said as he slowly stood up to address the group. “Now more than ever, we can’t be rash. Never in the recorded history of the northern lands, has there been an event like this. I suggest we approach this with caution.”

The conversation continued for a little bit longer before the generals decided on a course of action. They decided to follow general Lunell’s original suggestion of sending a scouting party into the northern states to verify the state of the region in large. After the meeting came to an end, general Jayesh and Lunell walked to a remote corner of the military camp.

“General Jayesh, from your actions, I can tell you have more information on the matters of the Northern states.” Lunell said with a reserved look. “What i’m more interested in is why you decided not to divulge the information to the other generals.” Jayesh stared at Lunnell with an appreciative smile. He knew the different temperaments of the generals, but he especially appreciated Lunell’s ability to judge situations.

“Incisive as ever Lunell.” Jayesh said with a smile, before staring into the distance. “You are right, I do know a little bit more about the situation, but I don’t know enough to make a statement about it. All I can say is; there is a war coming to the four continents, and the Northern continent are the spark to light that fire.” After hearing Jayesh’s words, Lunell nodded and walked back towards the camp. Lunell was generally acknowledged as the strongest strategist of the southern continent, and as such his ability to understand and accurately judge situations were of the highest order. From their conversation, Lunell could extrapolate the situation involved more than the armies of the continent, it probably involved saints of the four continents.

“For Jayesh to say that much, it means he was probably contacted by that saint and told not to divulge the contents of their meeting. That was probably done so as to not cause any panic. If that’s the case, this is a much more serious issue than I had previously thought.” Lunell said to himself as he walked back to his base.

********************

Over at the Rosemary Inn, darkness was slowly starting to give way to the break of dawn. The warriors from the city Kahn, were standing outside the vicinity of the Inn, as they patiently waited for their orders. Within the Rosemary Inn, Kaylin was patiently sitting in front of the stairs. To anyone watching, his actions might have seemed very strange, but to Kaylin himself, he knew this was the best course of action. After thinking through the situation, Kaylin came to the conclusion that it would be better to not be overly aggressive with this person. He wanted to see the rogue martial artist for himself before deciding on what to do.

“Your patience is admirable!” Willard said as he walked down the final stair, jolting Kaylin from his seat. Kaylin stared at Willard with a weary look on his face. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. At this moment, Kaylin’s mind was in shock, but outwardly, he did not express any of the shock he was experiencing. “How on earth could I not have heard him walk down? And how can he be this young?” Kaylin silently thanked his stars that he had decided to wait for this martial artist, rather than take the aggressive approach.

“How can we help you? I don’t believe you waited this long just to stare at me,” Willard continued.

“I am Kaylin, captain of the city guard. I got a report saying you and your group were responsible for killing two of our warriors, is this true?” Kaylin asked with a stern look? Although Kaylin wasn’t confident in his victory if he solely fought against the person in front of him, he still wouldn’t completely back down. If he was the type to back down from a fight, he would never have gotten to his current position.

“Yes that’s true.” Willard said staring straight at Kaylin. Kaylin in turn frowned as he heard Willard’s response. If it were anyone else, he would have attacked them, but the person in front of him gave him predatorial feeling, one that he hadn’t felt in a while. “Why did you kill them?” Kaylin asked again. Although he knew the details of what had happened, he still needed to get some kind of justification from him.

“They attacked me, so I naturally killed them.” Willard said with the same look on his face.

“It is against the law of this city to kill a warrior of the Khan household. No matter their crimes, it is something that everyone has to be accountable for.”

“Are you willing to come with and make this report to the Khan household?” Kaylin asked. Kaylin knew trying to forcefully bring this rogue martial artist in, would probably not be possible for him. Although the chances of him going peacefully were low, he still wanted to give it a try.

“I am not willing!” Willard directly responded. Kaylin sighed as he slowly reached for the short blade on his waist. “How about this, present this to the Khan household.” Willard said as he reached for an object in his pouch. Kaylin expression gradually changed as he recognized the object. “Summon token!”

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As Willard made his way towards where Ahmed and the other fighters were, Moore subconsciously took a couple of steps backward. He stared at Baya, who was currently holding on to his left arm. “What in the world? Don’t tell me another one of them is at the elemental energy level as well.” The man with the scar on his face said as he gripped his whip even more tightly

It was already tough enough, dealing with Ahmed as it was, the addition of another elemental energy expert would be some trouble for them. “Are you having some trouble, Ahmed?” Willard asked in the same usual nonchalant tone. Ahmed’s eyebrow slightly furrowed. He did not want to admit to Willard that he was indeed having some troubles, but the reality of things was that he really couldn’t best the group in front of him.

Oaklif who was in the background amongst some nearby spectators frowned as he saw Lydia walking beside Baya. “Moore, get rid of her quickly.” He yelled. From the current battle that he had witnessed, he could tell that these people were no push over. He also knew that the most important thing at this point was to cut off the biggest loose end in the entire situation, which meant they had to kill Lydia. Even if they couldn’t successfully kill everyone else, they most definitely had to kill Lydia.

Moore who was subconsciously shrinking away, inwardly cursed at Oaklif. “Stupid *******. Why don’t you kill her yourself.” he silently thought to himself. Although he felt this way, he couldn’t express this inner thought or show its existence. Moore braved himself and faced Willard’s group. Almost as if nothing had happened, Willard continued staring at Ahmed. “Master it will take me quite some time to deal with this.” Ahmed honestly responded.

“I see. Well, we need to get some rest soon.” Willard responded moving his gaze to the three people who were in front of Ahmed.

After hearing Willard’s response, the two warriors, from the Kahn household, and Moore were shocked. They couldn’t believe what they were hearing. For someone as strong as Ahmed to call another person his master, was no small thing. Even if Ahmed was a hired hand, it will take much more than just money to make an elemental energy expert to call another his master. So with that thought process, it could be understood as to why the three men were surprised. After some quick thought, a new found sense of fear gripped Moore’s entire existence. Moore fully remembered the warning Anjara had given Oaklif about the group. Moore instantly used all of his might to gather fire elemental energy to his blade. Before anyone else could do a thing, Willard stretched his right hand in their direction, instantaneously causing three distinct earth spike to shoot up from the ground aiming straight at Ahmed’s three opponents.

Moore who had been somewhat in a prepared state immediately swung his blade, which was currently covered in flames, at the protruding earth spike. The collision was loud and also caused a large amount of dust to fill their surrounding. The force of the impact left Moore’s hands numb, and also sent him flying in the opposite direction. The other two weren’t as lucky as Moore as the earth spike stabbed through their body, directly ripping fist sized holes in their body, impaling and effectively executing them on the spot.

The crowd, which included Oaklif, that had been watching from the sides immediately scattered into a frantic craze as started running in multiple directions. Although this scene was strange to Willard, Ahmed, and Baya, the others present knew why that was the case. Willard had just killed warriors from the Kahn household within the city of Kahn. There could be said to be fewer taboo’s committed by any visitor within the city limits.

Willard had a strange expression on his face as he walked towards where Moore had been sent flying towards. A strange light flickered through Willards eyes as he stared at Moore. Ahmed who was closely monitoring the entire situation immediately recognized that look on Willard’s face. He had previously seen those eyes when Willard had pursued him. Ahmed smiled as he watched the entire thing. “That’s the same look this fiend gave me when he pursued me.” Ahmed thought to himself. Ahmed was quite delighted at the prospect of Willard forcing another elemental energy expert to join him. For some strange reason, the idea of it greatly delighted him. But as Willard approached Moore, he turned to stare at Baya before moving his gaze back to Moore. Willard shook his head before adorning a smile. “Since you were able to survive that attack, you can keep your life,” he said before walking back towards the Rosemary Inn.

The expression on Ahmed’s face changed. “How come you let him go and ask me to follow you?” Ahmed silently thought to himself. Although Ahmed felt slightly wronged at the situation, he did not dare express any of that. Baya, on the other hand, was puzzled as to why Willard had stared at him before finally nodding his head. Lydia, on the other hand, was disappointed. She had hoped Willard would kill Moore, but she wasn’t in a position to ask anything of him. She couldn’t afford to antagonize Willard in any form whatsoever.

************

Over at some remote corner of the Western continent, a man wearing a white outfit was rapidly flying through the skies. His expression was one of anger as he frowned throughout his journey. He passed several terrains with strange and marvelous natural sights. At a certain region riddled with volcanoes of varying sizes, the man flew towards the center of the region, where a giant volcano was passively active, he dropped from the skies and lightly floated on top of the volcano. Little eruptions could be seen as magma bubbled and erupted to the side. After hovering at the top of the volcano for a couple of seconds, the man’s pupils suddenly turned pure white, followed by frost rapidly congealing around the surface of his skin. If Willard was present, he would be able to recognize this man as Svecko.

After his preparations, Svecko dove straight into the volcano. The frost that surrounded his body adequately shielded him from the burning molten magma that covered every inch of the volcano. The deeper Svecko went, the hotter it got, but he was adequately prepared, almost as if he had done it before.

At a certain point within the volcano, the usual sight of magma gave way for a strange cave. Svecko stopped his movement at the outskirts of the cave and stared deeply at the cave. The strange thing about the cave was the fact that it existed within this world of magma. Almost as if there was an invincible force shielding the cave from the magma. Svecko knew that this cave was created by the king of the west, and he knew that this entire region was a seal. Svecko increased the intensity of his gaze as his expression increasingly became even more serious. He nodded his head in dissatisfaction as he slowly sighed. He took some time to adjust his mental state and adequately prepared to enter the cave. More of the frost congealed and covered him, offering even more protection.

“Why must it be him? No good can come from this.” Svecko thought to himself as he sighed deeply.

Svecko took a step, placing him at the entrance of the cave. The first thing that caught Svecko’s gaze, was the sight of a giant tree that looked like it had just been set ablaze within the strange cave. With further inspection, one would realize that the trunk and the roots of the tree weren’t actually burning, just the leaves were on fire. This tree was called the soul lock tree, and this was the second time, Svecko had seen this tree. This tree was specially created by the King of the western continent, the lord of Paisis, and was used to directly trapped the demon of the west.

Although Svecko had seen the tree before, he still wasn’t comfortable with the sight of it. The tree had the unique trait of hypnosis, one that could entrap almost any foe. Apart from hypnosis, it also had the physical trait of malleability, which drastically increased its binding powers. In fact, this tree could be said to exist for one purpose alone, binding a host. Svecko slowly walked towards the tree. The closer he got, the more the features of the tree became more visible.

Usually, saints could see even the most minute of details from a very long distance, but within this cave and in the vicinity of the tree, most saints wouldn’t be able to see over thirty feet. At the center of the tree, one of the protruding branches had a single fruit on it. Svecko reached into a pouch and grabbed a seed. As the seed came out of the pouch, it immediately sprouted to life, growing a small vine-like branch that wrapped around his right palm.

Svecko sighed as he stretched his hand to grab the lone fruit on the tree. As his palm, which was wrapped in the vine-like branch, made contact with the fruit, a sizzling sound came from the fruit. After a couple of seconds, the sizzling sound ended, and the vine on his palm slowly crumbled to dust. Afterwards, the fruit rapidly changed in color from a dull purple to a bright red one. At which point, the fruit finally came off the branch. Svecko gently placed the fruit into the pouch he had gotten the seed from.

One by one, the flames on the tree, which was essentially the Leafs, started going out. After all of the Leafs had gone out, the tree slowly disintegrated, leaving behind a skinny white haired man, who fell to his knees as the tree disappeared into nothingness. The skinny white haired man drudgingly got up. “How long has it been?” The skinny man asked in a husky tone.

**************

Over at the southern continent, within the Blue dragon academy, a young man was leisurely seating beside a tree. The young man was reading a book he held with his right hand while he ate an apple he held with his left hand. From a distance, a young lady was standing in front of the young man. The young lady had a sweet smile as she held her hands behind her back. “What do you say, Mailey, would you be interested in attending the banquet with me?” she said with the same gentle smile.

“Not this time Venice,” Mailey said as he shut the book closed with his right hand.

“Very well. Next time you must come with me.” The young lady, Venice, said in response, before walking away. Although she had just been rejected, she still had a smile. After all, this was Mailey, the number genius of the Blue dragon academy. The fight between Willard and Mailey was like a baptism of sorts to Mailey, as it drastically changed his outlook on the world. Every now and then, Mailey would think back to the event at the Minya household and remembered the first time he had ever been outclassed by someone of his age group, which in turn drove him to practice and cultivate even more rigorously.

When suddenly a loud piercing sound came from the sky, which caused Mailey to move his gaze towards the sky. For some strange reason, he felt slightly nervous, almost as if the sound had something to do with him. Before Mailey could get up or react in any other form, something smashed onto the ground, like a meteor hitting the surface of the earth. Multiple cracks appeared on the surface of the earth, around the region where the strange object had landed. After a couple of seconds, the dust that had covered the area of impact settled. Mailey stared in shock as he noticed a man with red fiery hair staring straight at him. The man took just one step and immediately appeared right in front of Mailey. This man was Ladio, who was tasked by the lord of Paisis to come to the Southern continent.

As Ladio appeared right in front of Mailey, a wooden figurine immediately dashed out of his body. The movement of the figurine was so fast, that it even slightly surprised Ladio. The figurine acted like it was sentient, as it flew straight towards Mailey’s chest, before releasing a bright green glow. By the time the glow died out, Mailey had lost all consciousness as he laid perfectly still in Ladio’s arms. Without wasting another second, Ladio flew out of the school heading back to the Western continent.

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Hearing the words of their leader, the Bastich warriors that were surrounding Ahmed, quickly moved towards Lydia and the two other strangers beside her. One of the guards with an unkempt bushy eyebrow walked forward and stared angrily at Lydia. “You are wanted for crimes against the Kahn household. Submit or die before our blades,” he said as he slowly approached them. Although he gave the impression of being confident, in reality, he was far from that. He was in a perpetual state of deep fright, which could be seen as beads of sweat formed on his face. Inwardly he caused at the fact they were fighting people as strong as Ahmed.  “Step back Lydia,” Baya said as he moved towards the guards. From the sides of his waist, Baya pulled out his twin daggers.

 

Ahmed who was currently staring at Willard and Baya frowned as he heard Baya’s words. It was as if anything Baya said directly insulted him.  At this particular moment, it could be said that he had reached the precipice of his anger. “Not only did you disturb my peace, you stupid **** dared to lump me together with that man.” He said in an uncontrollable fit of anger “I will not rest until I skin you alive.”

 

Ahmed picked up the two parts that made his spear and quickly coupled them before connecting a metallic chain to it. He rushed towards the leader of the guards, Moore, with the same savage look he had. After his fight with Willard, he quickly learned something valuable, which was not to casually throw his weapon at his opponent. Ahmed thrust his spear in a savage motion aiming directly for the head. He was going for the kill but also wanted to use the opportunity to feel out his current opponent.

 

Moore defended against the strike with some difficulty as he slided a couple of steps backward. To his surprise, a small crack appeared on his blade. From this exchange, he could tell that Ahmed was definitely physically stronger than he was. And plus the fact that Ahmed had already shown he was in the elemental energy level early. “Very strong. Hurry up and get here Oaklif.” Moore lamented as he composed himself.

 

Ahmed was lashing out his spear attacks like a viper on the attack. It took quite a bit of effort for Moore to defend the frenzied attacks. Moore was completely shut down with the share ferociousness of those spear attacks. He wasn’t given the slightest bit of an opportunity to counterattack once. “You have some skill,” Ahmed said as he stretched his neck producing a loud cracking sound. “Good. I don’t want you to die easily.”

 

From the center of Ahmed’s palm that gripped his spear, violet lightning cracked outward, flowing through the metal spear. Some of the lightning randomly congealed to a strange liquid lightning form that fell from the tip of Ahmed’s spear and scattered across the ground. Baya who was some distance from Ahmed had a contemplative look on his face as he stared at Ahmed. “The angrier he gets the more lightning essence he is able to condense and use.” Baya softly said to himself. From watching Ahmed, he had just gained some minor clues on what he could focus on while he trained.

 

Moore who was at the receiving end of Ahmed’s wrath, grunted as he condensed some flames around his swords. Afterall, Moore himself was at the elemental energy level. He knew Ahmed had finally gotten serious with their battle. The restaurant at this point had been completely emptied. None of the people that worked or earlier dinners were within twenty feet of the inn. The fact that two elemental energy experts were fighting signaled the need to run for their lives.

 

As Ahmed continued his barrage of attacks, Moore was forced backward, time and time again, directly forcing him out of the restaurant. Ahmed ran towards him, trying to quickly close their distance and continue the assault. Although Ahmed had a clear advantage, he still wasn’t able to truly harm Moore and put him in a dangerous situation. “Is that all you know how to do?” Ahmed angrily yelled, “Since that’s all you know how to do, just stand there and receive my spear.” He continued as he switched from a thrusting motion to a sweeping one applying, even more, force than he applied previously, which knocked Moore a couple more steps backwards.

 

With a savage look to him, Moore swung both his blades in a direct and emphatic manner, in what was a rare attack coming from him. From both blades, came two streams of fiery red serpents that congealed from the surrounding natural energy and flew directly towards Ahmed. Moore had been biding his time to give Ahmed a surprise attack, and that opportunity came when Ahmed swung his spear in that sweeping motion. Watching the fiery serpent make its way towards him, Ahmed gripped his spear even more tightly, gathering even more lightning elemental energy to the spear, before throwing it towards the incoming fiery serpents. As the spear made contact with the fiery serpents, a loud explosion was seen. Ahmed was able to quickly withdraw his spear, as he yanked the chain that was connected to the spear towards his direction.

 

Baya on the other hand was having an even more difficult time. Although his opponents were not as strong as Ahmed and Moore, a couple of them were at the tenth level of natural energy just like he was, which proved to be quite the challenge for Baya. It must be noted, that these men were elites from the Bastich household that were stationed at the city of Kahn. As his battle continued, Willard sat on a chair and casually watched. His expression was still the same one of indifference. As the battle played on, Willard’s expression gradually grew more irritated. Baya was rapidly being forced to a position of pure defense. “Why are you holding yourself back Baya?” Willard casually said as he continued watching from his seat.

 

Lydia who was still in panic at the current events that were playing out, turned to stare at Willard with a look of disbelief. She knew Willard’s personality at this point, but couldn’t help stare in shock at his complete disregard for even Baya’s safety. “The way you fight is quite annoying.” Willard continued. Baya who was in the heat of battle couldn’t even spare a moment to think of a response. “Why don’t you help me out then,” Baya inwardly thought as he focused on defending the swarm of highly trained guards.

 

At this moment, three men casually walked towards where the fighting was going. “You seem to be having some trouble Moore.” One of the men said as he broke into a soft laughter, which followed the laughter of the man next to him. The introduction of those people temporarily put a pause to the fighting between Ahmed and Moore. The man that had spoken had a slender body structure with a scar across his forehead. “Luckily for you, Oaklif here had asked us for some help.” the man with the scarred forehead said as he looked towards Oaklif who was the third person in their group. Although Moore was glad to be getting some re-enforcement, he did not particularly have a good relationship with the two experts that had come to aid him. Right now, all he could do was awkwardly smile and stare at them. “He is quite strong.” Moore said as he backed out some more. “Probably at the fourth level of elemental energy.”

 

The three were surprised to hear Moore’s warning. Usually experts at that level of power were famous and illustrious. How was it they had never heard of this short bulky man before? “Interesting! No wonder Oaklif was willing to pay that much to get our help.” The man with the scarred forehead said.

 

“No no no!” An angry voice came from within the inn. The angry voice was none other than Willard’s, who was angrily instructing Baya. “You should not be waiting for them to strike first. You should be the one attacking.” Willard continued as he casually sat on the chair. The guards that were currently fighting Baya were quite astonished at the current situation. Willard had been seating the entire time complaining about the way Baya fought, without even lifting a single finger to help him out. From their perspective, it was one of the most bizarre thing they had seen. And this wasn’t exclusive to the guards, both Baya and Lydia felt the same exact way.

 

“How do you not understand this simple concept yet? Feel the various elements surrounding you. Channel it through a medium and release it.” Willard said with an apparent look of frustration.

 

Over at the corner, where Ahmed was fighting Moore, the two experts that had come to aid Moore, had a look of confusion as they heard Willard’s words. “Let’s quickly finish this and go stop the rest of them.” Moore said with an impatient tone. The three experts began fighting against Ahmed by himself. Although they were not individually stronger than Ahmed, but the addition of two extra elemental energy level experts greatly reduced Ahmed’s advantage. The fighting scale shifted from a one sided battle to one that could not be easily predicted. They were able to successfully defend and counterattack Ahmed, making the fight much more difficult for him.

 

Finally, Baya gave up all sense of cautiousness. He decided to attack with his all, even though that went against all his experience and fighting style. Baya rushed in with a complete disregard for defence. He passionately attacked one of the guards with his dagger, swinging across the chest of the guard. Unfortunately for Baya another guard used that opportunity to stab at his arm, injuring him in the process. Another guard quickly rushed in to use the current opening to go for the kill.

 

Suddenly, Willard smiled as he stared at Baya. Willard noticed faint changes in the natural energy surrounding Baya. At that particular moment, it was like time had come to a halt for Baya. He couldn’t help but replay the scene of Ahmed controlling the lightning element in his anger, in his mind. In his moment of peril, Baya seemed to have gotten an epiphany, which caused the stimulation of natural energy around him. “It not anger or emotions. It is your state of mind.” Willard thought to himself. The guards surrounding Baya did not notice anything different, and in fact, no one else but Willard and Baya had noticed anything different. To the guards, the slight increase in temperature they felt, was nothing more than the heat their bodies generated while they fought.

 

“That’s it, don’t hold back.” Willard silently whispered as he watched the situation play out, as a single flame surreptitiously appeared in the area where the guard, that had been rushing to quickly kill Baya, was in. Although the flame surprised the guard, he notwithstanding was still able to easily bypass the flame and attack Baya. In the moments just before he could strike Baya with his blade, a gravitational force, applying almost ten times his weight, fell on him. This incident was not isolated to the guard that was about to strike Baya, the gravitational force wasn’t discerning, it affected everyone within that general location, including Baya himself.

 

As waves of the gravitational domain spread around, the fighting outside the restaurant had stopped. Followed by agonizing screams. All parties, except for Ahmed who had experienced such a thing, turned around to and stared in surprise. “What the hell is going on?” Moore asked in a somewhat astonished tone.  Although Ahmed, was able to keep himself safe all this while, he was inwardly glad to see Willard had decided to act. His situation was starting to get even more serious. Ahmed couldn’t help but think back to his first encounter with Willard.

 

After a few seconds, Willard walked out of the inn, followed by Baya who had some flesh wounds and Lydia to his side.

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Lydia heard what had happened and quickly rushed to window. Luckily, no one was stationed outside. She left the room through the window and quickly rushed out of the mansion. On her way out, she heard screams coming from the mansion. Hardening her mind, she continued running. Right now she couldn’t afford to intervene as she knew she wasn’t strong enough to be of any help to them. She could only go forward and hope for the best. In reality, she knew hoping was pointless as they would unfailingly be killed.

Within the mansion, Oaklif was quietly sitting while he waited for the warriors and guards to finish searching the house. After a couple of minutes of waiting, the warriors that searched the house came to report back to Oakliff.

 

“Did you find her?”

“No sir, I think she might have escaped through the window.” One of the warriors responded.

“Interesting. Given her intelligence, she should have figured out what’s going on. She should also know nowhere would be safe for her within this city. Her only option now is to ask those experts for help.”

“Send people to cover every exit from the city. Pay whatever it takes to hire those experts. Moore, lead everyone to the Rosemary Inn. This time around, we must kill that girl and all her associates.”

Over at the Rosemary Inn,  Willard was currently sitting on a bed, checking some of the items Sebastian had given him. Ahmed and Baya were having some drinks at the bar within the inn. Due to some strange situation, they were both seating on the same table. Although Ahmed hated Baya and his current situation, he couldn’t do anything while Willard was in the area. He did not know the exact extent of Willard’s power, but from he already knew, he wasn’t willing to test him.

As Ahmed thought about his situation he frowned even more. He was angry and without an avenue to vent his anger. Baya stared at Ahmed for a little bit and guessed what he was thinking. He knew Ahmed hated him to the bones, but couldn’t act on that anger. Baya moved his gaze to a server that walked by. “Another drink” he softly said. The server looked over at Ahmed. “And you sir?” he asked. 

*************

Lydia was currently running towards the Rosemary Inn, she was secretly hoping that Baya and Willard decided to stay at that inn. She knew there was a possibility that they would have decided to not stay at that particular inn or decided to just continue their journey altogether. If they left the city, she knew that was it for her. There was no way she would survive, given her current predicament.

Lydia rushed into the Rosemary Inn and stared around the place. She was scanning to see if she could recognize anyone in the group of diners that were scattered around the place. A server walked up to the currently disheveled looking Lydia. “Hi Miss, would you like me to arrange a seat for you?” She asked with an expectant smile on her face. The server could instantly tell that Lydia was of noble standings, because of her outfit and demeanor. The server knew that people like Lydia could easily fork out a couple of silver coins as a tip. An amount that could feed her entire family for a month. Her biggest hope at the moment was to get Lydia a seat and serve her.

Lydia turned to face the server with an urgent look on her face. “Did you see a group 3 men walk in here about two hours ago?” The look on the servers face immediately changed. She wasn’t particularly happy hearing Lydia’s question. If Lydia wasn’t trying to get a meal here, that meant she wouldn’t be making any money from her.

“No miss.” The server quickly responded and immediately turned to leave.

Over at the table were Baya and Ahmed were seated, Ahmed caught a glimpse of Lydia with the server and immediately increased his focus on that area. His actions surprised Baya, who turned to stare at what Ahmed was looking at. To his complete surprise, Lydia was standing there looking anxious. Baya immediately got up and walked towards her.

“Are you okay Miss Lydia?” Baya asked as he approached her.

Lydia was startled when she first heard her name but later became elated. The server that was attending to her took that opportunity to leave. “No, I am in trouble. And I have nowhere else to go,” she responded staring deeply at Baya. “Can we talk somewhere in private?”

Baya looked around before finally leading Lydia to his room. As Ahmed saw Baya leave with Lydia, a disdainful look appeared on his face. He felt both envy and anger but really couldn’t do a thing about it. As they both got into Baya’s room, Lydia began narrating everything that had happened while they were separated. She told him about her suspicions with the behaviors of the guards down to what Oaklif had done.

“Why are they trying to kill you?” Baya asked the one question that had curiously plagued his mind while he was listening to Lydia’s story. Lydia hesitated for a couple of seconds before showing a serious look on her face.

“I think this is all due to my elder brother.” She said with a scornful look to her.

“My father is currently ill and could pass away at any moment. My brother fears that father could leave the household in my hands.”

Baya had a surprised look on his face. Hearing what Lydia had said, completely surprised him. Why would her father be thinking of leaving the household in Lydia’s hands? This was something that was virtually unheard of. Most house leaders would leave the affairs of the house to a male heir, as they would mostly favor the lineage of the males. Baya composed himself and quickly shed the doubt in his mind.

“You are certain that they would be coming here for you?” Baya asked

“Yes, undoubtedly. They will also be coming with some powerful experts.”

Baya sighed and got up. “Wait here. I need to inform my master about this.” He said as he walked out of the room.

When Baya left, Lydia’s expression changed. “This is my only choice. I would never have thought brother would act so soon. Something serious must have happened while I was away. I currently do not have any backers here. I need their help to safely get back to Oriente city.”

As Baya was about to knock on Willard’s doors, he heard a loud ruckus coming from outside of the Inn. He immediately assumed it was the people from the Bastich household. Baya knocked and patiently waited for Willard. It did not take long before Willard opened the door. Baya hastily explained everything that had happened to Lydia.

“Do as you wish.” Willard softly said as he paused. “I’ll accompany you.”

Baya nodded in acknowledgment of Willard’s words. He was inwardly jubilating at the fact that Willard decided to accompany him. He did not have much faith in dealing with the situation by himself and as such hoped Willard would help out.

************

A group of warriors barged into the Rosemary Inn. The leader amongst them made a hand gesture instructing the warriors behind him to check the area. The manager of the inn quickly ran out to meet the warriors. From the insignia on their clothing, the manager could tell these were warriors of the Bastich household. “Greetings sir, how can this manager be of help to you?”

The leader stared at the manager in an imposing manner. “I am looking for some criminals and their associate. We are going to search every corner of this inn until we find them.” He said in a very loud tone. His aim was to let everyone know why they were there.

“Sir, can you describe them? We could help you find them faster.” The manager said as he tried to be on the good side of the warriors. These were the warriors of the Bastich household, although their words were not final within this city. They still had enough sway here. Whatever the case might be, he had to make sure everything happened to the liking of these warriors.

“A young lady of noble standings should have come to this inn not too long ago. Tell me where she and everyone she has interacted with are?”

The manager turned to the servers, with an inquisitive look. The server that had interacted with Lydia earlier came forward. “A woman fitting that description came in earlier. She spoke to a man before heading to the living area.” The server said before moving her gaze to a table. A thought instantly filled the mind of the server as she quickly pointed to a table.

“There sir, that man was seen together with the friend of the woman you mentioned earlier.” The server said with a bright look on her face. The table the server had just pointed to was the one currently occupied by Ahmed. As the server finished her comment, a sense of profound anger seemed to infiltrate every cell of Ahmed’s body.  First he was forced to follow that unknown youth all around, and next, he was forced to stay beside the man that had killed his beloved younger brother. To top it all off, he was being considered a friend of that same man.

“Hey, you!” The leader of the group yelled as he faced Ahmed. He gestured to the rest of the warriors who immediately started to surround Ahmed.

The entire situation vexed Ahmed to his bones. “Where are your associates and that….” The leader of the group was asking before he was interrupted by Ahmed. “Shut the hell up.” Ahmed angrily yelled as he got up. Little veins appeared on Ahmed’s forehead as he stared at the warriors.

“You low life dare talk to sir Moore like that.” One of the guards that had surrounded Ahmed said as he drew out his sword and lunged in to attack Ahmed. The people that occupied the table close to Ahmed’s rushed out of the way. Not just that table, everyone within the restaurant rushed out, so as not to be casualties of the fight.

Within a split second of attacking Ahmed, a strange purple object had spontaneously appeared in front of the guard that rushed in to attack Ahmed. The guard did not have time to see or react as the object wrapped around his face, effectively blinding him and sweeping him effortlessly to the floor.  The whole thing happened way too fast.

The rest of the guards surrounding Ahmed couldn’t help but stare in disbelief as their companion was being electrocuted by Ahmed. To the guard that was slammed to the floor, he had no idea what had happened to him. To the rest, all they saw was Ahmed’s right suddenly appear over their companion’s face. Ahmed’s hand movement was way too fast for anyone below the elemental energy level to see. None of them could react in time to help.

“Elemental energy level,” One of the guards said as a new sense of danger swelled up in him. The rest of the guards took a couple of steps back as they realized the kind of person they were up against.

The leader of the guards frowned as he walked towards Ahmed. “You dare kill a warrior of the Kahn household. Today you shall die.” He inwardly sighed as he stared at Ahmed. “This would be tough facing an Elemental energy expert. Hopefully, Oaklif would get them here shortly.”

Slow but melodic footsteps could be heard as three people walked down the stairs, breaking up the tense atmosphere within the restaurant. The leader of the guards stopped in his movement to stare at the newcomers, before showing a strange frown. He could instantly recognize Lydia amongst these people and immediately got a sense of who they were. What puzzled him the most was the fact that they all seemed relaxed. Usually, most people in their shoes would use this kind of opportunity to escape leaving behind their comrade. But this time around, they were casually walking towards him.

“What are you waiting for? Go get them immediately.” The leader of the guards yelled.

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