The Palace of the Sacred Warrior

  The assistant of the Sacred Warrior, Frex, speaks: "Sir, you have received an invitation from the Kingdom of Sky."

  Aelius: "Frex, I don't think I can accept it."

  The Silent Prison

  Horus, thinking to himself:

  "What if Langst hadn't killed their ally, Alex? Would anything have changed? No, I don't think so. When Alvis said 'your m,' it wasn't just him who exploded—Grace exploded with him. The same would have happened if Alex hadn't been killed. The Head of Security must have thought the same thing; that's why Langst wasn't punished, even though what he did was a loss."

  One Month of Training Later…

  Sai mastered hand combat, while Hakan mastered foot fighting style.

  Afterward, Sai moved on to clawfighting style, and Hakan moved on to hand combat.

  After six weeks, Kyotai mastered swordsmanship. He then began training his ability alongside Karez and Beatrix.

  Two weeks later, the training was complete.

  Yaraso: "Leo, are you ready?"

  Leo: "Of course."

  Yaraso: "Three… two… one…"

  A portal opens before them.

  Yaraso: "We'll meet again, so there's no need for goodbyes."

  Leo: "Thank you, sir."

  Yaraso smiles.

  Yaraso: "It's Yarasou, not 'sir.'"

  Leo: "Thank you, Yaraso."

  Yaraso: "No need to thank me."

  Leo: "See you later!"

  Yaraso: "Indeed."

  Leo steps into the portal, which disappears behind him.

  In Front of Rivan’s House

  Leo emerges from the portal, where everyone is waiting for him. He doesn’t say anything, but a look of relief is clear on his face.

  Kano: "Why so quiet?"

  Leo: "Honestly, I don’t know what to say in this moment… but those two months felt longer than a vacation. I missed you all."

  Zalen: "We’re not that close to you…"

  Leo, not really caring: "I wasn’t talking to you."

  Itor: "Blunt."

  Brika: "Very."

  Sai smiles, steps forward, and hugs Leo.

  Sai: "I missed you too."

  Mary closes her eyes and smiles. Beatrix smirks and says: "You better be stronger now, charcoal head."

  Leo: "Your head looks more like a tomato than Kento's."

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Kento: "Hah?!"

  Kano: "You missed some great training, man."

  Garin: "I didn’t miss you because you took too long."

  Kani and Karez laugh.

  Karez: "Training without you was boring."

  Leo: "I felt the same."

  Mary: "I needed your darkness for training."

  Sai: "She missed you but won’t admit it."

  Mary: "Shut up!"

  Kani: "Just admit it."

  Leo laughs, then notices something interesting.

  Leo: "Kyotai, isn’t that my wooden sword?"

  Kyotai: "Yeah, it is."

  Leo: "How did you get it?"

  Kyotai: "My own way. Now shut your mouth."

  Leo: "Uh…"

  Kento: "You better be stronger now, or I’ll kill you."

  Leo: "Don’t worry. I’m stronger than you anytime, anywhere."

  Kento: "And I’m taller than you anytime, anywhere."

  Leo: "By one centimeter!"

  watching them in silence, a smile on their face

  Revan: "Fyorai."

  Fiorai: "What?"

  Revan: "Their antics remind me of the good old days…"

  Fyorai: "i agree"

  Arian: "We’re just sitting here watching them."

  Damian: "They haven’t seen each other in two months, so we can’t blame them."

  Hakan: "I’m gonna hit him."

  Hakan swings at Leo’s head, but Leo dodges effortlessly.

  Leo: "Dude, that was a basic strike."

  Hakan: "What? Basic?"

  Leo: "Yeah."

  Hakan laughs.

  Hakan: "I like it."

  Leo: "Huh?"

  Hakan: "We’re friends now."

  Brika: "You can’t decide that by yourself."

  Leo swings at Hakan, but Hakan dodges.

  Leo: "You're impressive. We are surely friends now."

  Hakan: "Yeah!"

  Neron interrupts them

  Neron: "Since we can’t split up, where do we go now?"

  Sai: "Why not just move without a set destination and see where we end up?"

  Kano: "What if we enter a Non-coalition kingdom or a dangerous place?"

  Sai: "Good point."

  Zalen: "How about we head to the Kingdom of Ogrulia, then to Great Nest?"

  Beatrix: "Do you want to explore other kingdoms?"

  Zalen: "Yeah."

  Mary: "Anastasia has many allies, like Sky, Atlantis, Ogrulia, and Great Nest, among others."

  Leo: "If only we had planned this earlier…"

  Rivan: "I have a suggestion."

  Garin: "Impress us."

  Rivan: "The Elf City, the Dwarves City, the Kingdom of Sky, and finally, Ogrulia."

  Neron: "That actually sounds like a good idea."

  Kyotai: "Why that specific route?"

  Rivan: "You’ve been training here for two months. Do you really need another reason?"

  Karez: "That makes sense, to be honest."

  Leo: "Especially since you're one of Yaraso's acquaintances."

  Damian: "I have a question—aren’t you giving weapons to Brika since she trained in spear combat?"

  Rivan: "No."

  Damian: "Why not?"

  Rivan: "Why do you think your journey includes visiting the Dwarves City?"

  Damian: "Oh."

  Garin: "That makes a lot more sense now."

  Rivan: "You have six months left—make good use of them. Now…"

  Fyorai suddenly opens a portal under the students, and they fall into it, finding themselves in a forest.

  Sai: "I’m starting to hate forests."

  Mary: "This place looks familiar."

  Zalen: "Indeed, it does."

  Mary: "This is one of the forests surrounding the Elf City."

  Karez: "At least this portal saved us some time."

  Arian: "Exactly, because the Elf City is in the farthest north of the kingdom."

  Garin: "This means we’ll be seeing your birthplace, Mary, or at least some of us, since some have been there before."

  Mary: "But didn’t Professor Langst say that going back to our homes could get us expelled?"

  Beatrix: "As long as you don’t literally go to your home, everything should be fine."

  Mary: "You’re right."

  Kinto: "Let’s move."

  Hakan: "Are you ordering us around?"

  Kaiser: "Shut up dude..."

  Karez: "Finally, you speak."

  Kaiser: "I didn’t get the chance to speak."

  After a bit of walking...

  Hakan: "Hey, healing girl, is there a casino in the Elf City?"

  Mary: "Yes."

  Hakan: "Show me the way."

  Mary: "And what do I get in return?"

  Hakan: "A percentage of the money I win."

  Mary: "50%?"

  Hakan: "Fine..."

  Mary:" We’re almost there."

  Itor: "I’m so tired..."

  Brika: "Watch out!"

  A wild boar charges toward Itor, but Kyotai hits it with a wooden sword, and the boar faints with a single strike.

  Leo: "I didn’t know my wooden sword could do that."

  Kyutai: "Swords become weaker if their wielder is weak."

  Leo: "That wasn’t necessary."

  Mary: "We’ve arrived."

  Everyone is amazed by the view. It turns out they are in a high place compared to the Elf City, allowing them to see the whole city from above. The city is surrounded by a wall of mountains, with waterfalls cascading from them into the city below. The city itself is filled with plants, beautiful and relaxing to the eye, a place full of the kindest beings—the Elfs.

  Mary raises her hand for five seconds, and a flying broom from the city appears in front of her.

  Arian: "Is this normal?"

  Mary: "These are our specialties."

  Kani: "You use them for flying?"

  Mary: Exactly.

  Kani: "Why don’t you use them outside the city?"

  Mary: "I don’t know why, but it’s forbidden."

  Sai: "I hate rules."

  Mary: "Me too."

  Yaraso's Office

  Yaraso is sitting at his desk, calling his assistant, Crystal.

  Crystal: "Do you need me for something?"

  Yaraso: "I was just thinking, since you’re one of the people I trust the most, will you believe the story I’m about to tell you now?"

  Crystal: "As long as it makes sense."

  Yaraso laughs lightly: "I don’t think it will."

  Rivan's House

  Rivan: Fyorai, do you remember that sword Leo was carrying?

  Fyorai: The black sword? Yes, I remember it. You explained a similar sword to me before, if I’m not mistaken.

  Rivan: This is the sword I described. Do you know who its previous user was?

  Fyorai: No, who was it?

  Rivan: Langst.

  Fyorai: Langst uses swords?

  Rivan: He used it once, nine years ago, during that Daimas mission. What truly amazes me is that Leo was able to fight with that sword, even though it’s cursed.

  North of Anastasia Kingdom

  Siron and Arkan face three people.

  Siron: Who are you?

  One of them answers: This is none of your business. Now, shut up, it won’t hurt much.

  Elf City

  Brika: How do we get down?

  Mary claps her hands, and a ladder made of plants appears to let them descend.

  Brika: This place is magical.

  They begin descending, and Itor speaks.

  Itor: Do you have Mercury flowers?

  Mary: Of course.

  Itor: How long has it been since you watered them?

  Mary: 90 years.

  Kaiser: What is this flower?

  Damian: It’s a Mercury flower. It needs to be watered with Mercury instead of water.

  Kinto: How does it live for 90 years without being watered?

  Mary: This flower only needs to be watered once every 150 years. However, many people think it’s a waste of money, because Mercury is, naturally, not cheap. That’s why it’s found only in a few places.

  Kano: That’s special.

  Mary: Still, I don’t think we can water it anymore, because our Mercury stock is finished. Getting pure Mercury is very expensive. Even if all the villagers gathered to get pure Mercury, it still wouldn’t be enough.

  Itor: I can give you pure Mercury, since my ability is Mercury.

  Mary: Really? Can you do that?

  Itor: Yes...

  Mary: The people of the city will be so happy about this!