"Thank you all for coming here… Today is a day that I never thought I would see so soon… No, it was not a scene I had ever dreamt to see in my entire life… I was fully expecting to be the one dead first and to never have to see such a day but it seems like fate had chosen a different outcome…"

He took a small pause, his body slightly shaking before he continued what he had to say.

"Time is a weird thing, is it not? It only felt like a few days ago when my dear friend and I used to take our children to the park every day and watch them play together as we sat down and talked about them while having a drink… It only felt like a few days ago when he came back home angry, suspended from school for defending a dear classmate being abused... It only felt like a few days where he and I would train vigorously together, day and night to hone our skills…"

The tears welling up in his eyes slowly and slowly became more apparent, his voice becoming more and more sombre, everyone around Moby— and, even Moby himself felt almost the same as the speech was poking daggers into his still grieving heart.

"Alex was a strong man with an unquestionable resolve, he always followed his heart. Although that could sometimes lead him to do some very irrational things, that was just the kind of person he was and I could not be any prouder… He did not die a coward's death— He died a warrior! A fighter for what he believed in! He died serving his country! Nay! His people! He fought to protect the entire human race against those shalkers! He and his friends bearing the pain all by themselves!"

At this point, Joseph, his wife, and many of the spectators could no longer control the dam of their eyelids from exploding, a waterfall of tears falling from their faces.

"His body may have not been found anywhere on the battlefield! But he will always live on in our hearts! He will always live on in this family! And in the eternal lightning of our family!"

Suddenly, out of a storage, Joseph pulled his mighty, purple spear and raised it high in the sky, various thunderclouds forming right above the crowd who seemed to not panic or even move an inch.

The clouds above began to crackle with purple lightning before suddenly, a massive blast of lightning struck right above the open casket behind where Joseph stood, forming a body made out of pure, purple lightning, its features resembling Alex's features to impressive, near impossible accuracy as it dropped slowly in the casket that closed immediately right after…

Joseph now took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves as he and everyone else took a moment of silence to stare solemnly at the ground below, the thundercloud above them immediately dispersing not before raining small, subtle droplets of rain onto everyone.

Moby could not see the expressions of everyone else around him but he was sure they were feeling similarly as he felt his heart about to leap out of his chest and his eyes about to explode. Or, if anything, he might even be feeling worse than everyone around him considering that corruption Avilia talked about…

Now, what followed were various other speeches about Alex, one, of course, being from his mother, one from Mason, and one from high general Ryker who Moby was not even able to make out from the almost uniform, thick crowd of the funeral.

Everyone then took turns touching the casket and saying their final words to Alex before walking away and talking to some of the other guests before everyone packed up and left.

When it got to Moby's turn, he couldn't get himself to say anything other than 2 simple words... "I'm sorry..."

After the funeral ended, the only people that remained were Moby and the Griffiths who were invited to dinner afterwards.

The mansion itself was grand and very distinct from that of both the Griffith's and the Reids, following a more modern aesthetic than the two with various lion-like decorations which seemed to be the family symbol.

They all discussed many things, a lot of it being Mason and Joseph sharing stories about Alex while everyone else listened quietly.

The conversation then shifted towards Joseph asking Moby various questions, some about himself and the past situation, mostly questions that he had answered before and some more to do about Alex and what kind of person he was, which he of course answered honestly.

Time was getting late so they did not stay at the Hart's family mansion for long before they left, still with an empty feeling in his heart.

Mason and Jayden asked Moby if he wanted to come and stay at their mansion for the next few days since there will be no school.

It was quite a tempting offer, but Moby had to decline and decided to head back to his dorm room instead. There was someone there most likely also grieving and he did not want them to feel ignored or left out… He did in fact feel bad for Ray since there was nothing he could do, he also deserved recognition but he seemed to get none... and he was not even invited to the funeral when he at least deserved to go, most likely because of his low status.

And he, unlike everyone else was most likely still in the dark about everything, including his recovery from the hospital so he had to go check up on him.

So, before the Griffiths went home, they personally drove him to the entrance of the school before they went back to their mansion, Jayden giving him a kiss on the cheek before he left, telling him to visit her soon.

In the darkness, Moby walked through the front gates of the school and looked around the empty, all too familiar sights before he found himself at the front of his room, the lights on the inside completely turned off.

He scanned his student ID card on the lock and slowly opened the door and entered, finding the room almost completely empty and clean, no robot parts to be seen. The only part that could be considered "messy" was a single game controller in front of the tv, not put back to where it was.

When he looked around for Ray, he noticed a small bump on the bottom bunk, noticing Ray's sleeping figure which made him let out a sigh and a small smile, choosing not to wake him and let him sleep in peace; they could always talk in the morning.

However, that was when Moby's expression shifted into something more blank as he stared at the empty bunk above that where Alex usually slept with an empty feeling in his heart, shaking it away before he changed his clothes into something more comfortable using his inventory and silently jumped up to his usual place on the top bunk.

It was finally time to see something that he wanted to open ever since the day started… With his student ID in hand, he pulled out a small, military low-grade ring from his hands with eyes full of expectation.

However, before he did, he decided to contact Jayden first to ask her about what she received in her award, just so he could know what to expect.

'Well, it was only a medal of military high honour made out of genuine rare medals, some training materials, and a high-grade set of daggers that are extremely powerful but lacks some of the cool effects I like such as teleporting them back into my hands and duplicating them into fake daggers. I think Nags received only a low-grade medal since he was technically part of the enemy at one point but then switched sides. He's probably still locked up in his room extremely angry at himself so I wouldn't recommend contacting him now, tomorrow would probably do better.'

'I see… Thanks for the info!'

'No problem! Oh! And have you decided if you are going to kill him or not? 1 week is almost up you know!'

'His ability and demon powers seem rather useful… So I'll keep him for now and keep an eye on him. But I think for now I don't see a reason not to trust him…'

'I see… Well, anyways, it's been a nice chat! I'm sure you want to find out what's inside your ring so I'll leave you to that! I'm going to go to sleep now, it's been a long day and I haven't slept in almost a week… You can tell me what you got tomorrow. Or, if it's important you can just wake me up, I don't really mind,'

'Mhm, got it! Well, goodnight!'

'Goodnight to you too! I love you!'

For a split second in his mind, small doubt arose in his head saying it back to her, as he was still unsure of himself if what he felt for her was real or not, before shaking those thoughts away and responding like usual, closing the mind link slightly angry at himself.

'I love you too!'

Moby took a deep breath and stared back at the ring in his hands with expectant eyes.

If those were the rewards Jayden received, then technically, what he receives should be even better considering his accomplishments.

Slowly, he lifted his student ID card and scanned it on the ring in his other hand.

[ Access Authorised ]

A sound and a window emerged before suddenly, 2 things appeared on his lap…

A purple medal with his name engraved on it along with the military logo, the metal looking extremely hard and pristine, unlike anything he had ever seen in his life, assuming that the medal he received was of greater value than the one given to Jayden.

And, the other item was a single piece of folded paper, that Moby found rather odd, before shaking those thoughts away as it began to make more sense that the military would send him a personal letter to thank him on his accomplishments since they did not have the chance to do it in person.

Yet, it still bothered him that other than his medal, he received nothing else, no rare weapon or training material like Jayden received, checking inside the storage ring once more only to find it completely empty, which made him even more intrigued about the contents of the letter.

For some strange reason, he had an odd feeling about the letter sat on his laps, his heart beating unnaturally fast, unsure if it was from nervousness, fear or excitement.

Calming himself, he slowly lifted and opened the folded paper and read the first 5 words, his expression shifting into pure horror, like his heart instantly dropped to the bottom of his stomach and his face turning paler than a ghost.

"We know who you are…"