“What should we do?” A brown haired woman with freckles on her face asked.

“Ignore it,” a short, red-haired muscular guy, the city lord, Bethor replied. Seeing her face turn sad, he added “Sally, I understand that it would be exciting to explore a new planet, but if you just up and leave, then we might as well throw our plans out the window. Too many people suffered for this, do you want to waste their efforts?”

Shaking her head, she replied, “No. It’s just that it would have been fun and… who knows? We could have found a country that was willing to help.”

Patting her shoulder, he commented, “Don’t be so naive, Sally. Why would anyone help us remove this waste of a king we have? As long as Atelon is on the throne, this kingdom won’t become any better or bigger than the others. We will never grow into powerful kingdoms like the Saurward Empire. Do you want to stay in this level one Kingdom all your life?”

“Don’t you want to make it grow into a more powerful Kingdom and get closer to Mana filled territories? We aren’t even allowed to enter since we were born here!”

Clenching her fists, Sally nodded her head. “Your words are true. I’ll try to ignore that portal and focus on the matter at hand. Once you get on the throne, I’m sure that you will lead us to a better future!”

A smile formed on Bethor’s face upon hearing her words. “You are like a daughter to me, Sally. I know that we haven’t met a lot in these days and I know that your husband too betrayed-”

Raising her hand, Sally interrupted him, “Don’t even mention him. He died a long time ago and has nothing to do with me. I don’t even remember his face clearly and don’t worry about it, I know that you have to deal with many matters. I suppose you are leaving soon again, right?” she asked, raising a brow.

Nodding his head, Bethor replied “Indeed, I’m leaving tomorrow. We are soon ready to engage in a bloody war with that bastard of a king. I only hope that we won’t fall too deep and turn into nothing but ‘free territory’ for the neighboring kingdoms.”

They couldn’t help but think about that possibility. Two knocks on the door interrupted the silence in Bethor’s office. Raising his head, he looked at Sally, “It seems like Caleb is here.”

“The Vice-Commander? I haven’t met him either for a long time now. He is as sneaky as ever… for me to not notice his presence,” Sally shook her head with a sense of self-disappointment.

“Don’t mind it, his first class was an Assassin and he managed to evolve it into a class called ‘Black Moon’. If he really tries, not even I can sense his presence!” Bethor comforted her.

After Caleb entered the room, they shared everything they learned over time and adjusted their plans in the right way. They decided to ignore the portal for now and in the best case, the King would send his forces to check it out, which would mean that they would have a higher chance at winning the war.

But before they could even leave Bethor’s office, somebody knocked on the door. “What is it?” Bethor raised his voice, knowing that it was one of his officers.

“Three guests came from the capital city. They are students at the Magic Academy and their levels are quite high too…” a whisper came through the door.

Clicking his tongue, he replied, “Let them in.”

“Shouldn’t we leave at first?” Caleb asked, brushing his hand through his long, blonde hair, his green eyes shining with a strange glint.

“I know that look in your eyes, but no, we can’t kill them right now, though it would definitely help us in the war. It would be equal to a declaration of war and it’s still not time. I have to make sure that one of the nobles I had a deal with will keep his words. His servants are of key importance to this war!” Bethor shook his head, knowing Caleb better than anyone.

“Haha, fine, but I’ll disappear before the pricks appear. You know that I don’t like them. All of them are too arrogant!” Caleb said with a chuckle as his body turned into a black mist and disappeared, leaving only a whisper, “I’ll look around on that new planet quickly. I might find somebody useful.”

Sally opened her mouth wide, pointing at the floor where Caleb stood, “So he can go but not me?”

“... I didn’t allow him to go, but I can’t stop him. People don’t even know him so it doesn’t really matter unlike you,” Bethor shook his head, feeling bittersweet inside.

“...”

“The guests are here,” a mellow voice came through the door before it was suddenly pushed open, revealing three young people, two boys, and one girl. Both of the teenage boys had handsome faces and blonde hair, though one of them had blue eyes, while the other one had yellow eyes. The girl wasn’t lacking in her proportions either, her curvy, fit body alluring any man, combined with her small nose, red lips, yellow eyes, and long brown hair.

The blue-eyed boy stopped in front of Bethor and held out his hand, “I greet the lord with respect!” he said with a smile.

Considering my position, the least they should do is greet me personally. For him to ‘offer’ their group’s regards in one person… Hmph, what a stuck up prick, Bethor thought with annoyance, hiding his emotions. It’s not the right time to pick a fight with them. Showing a smile, he grabbed his hand, “Welcome to Argent city! What brought you here?”

“The King sent us to organize a competition with your help in the city. We will look for talented Magicians who are good enough to enter the Magic Academy,” the brown-haired girl replied from the back, not even looking at Bethor while speaking.

The latter couldn’t help but wrinkle his brows with annoyance. “Haha, that sounds like a great plan!”

Interrupting him, the yellow-eyed boy said, “Additionally, on the way here we found a newly opened portal, which seems to lead to another planet or area. Do you mind joining us and explore it? We might find something valuable.”

Bethor made a thoughtful face before replying, “I’m sorry but I have a few things to take care of beforehand if you don’t mind. You can stay as long as you wish as my guests. Now if you excuse me,” he replied, keeping his face by ignoring them. When he left the trio looked at each other with surprised faces.

“Did he just shake us off without even asking our names or anything?” the yellow-eyed boy asked, visibly angered by Bethor’s disrespect. Raising her hands, Sally said, “Now, now. Don’t be so angry since he has many things he has to deal with. I’ll go with you if you still wish to go,” she said after seeing Bethor wink at her before closing the door.

If they are here to organize a competition, then the King still doesn’t know our plans. Could it be that Elena isn’t a student of the Magic Academy? I’ll have to ask, Sally thought with interest.

“Pardon me, but do you know a girl named Elena? Or a guy called Jake?” she asked, tilting her head to the side.

“No. Oh, wait, there is a girl called Elena,” the brown-haired girl replied in haste, only to realize that she was wrong.

“Is there? What does she look like?” Sally asked, her curiosity piqued.

“... Look, what do you want from her when…” She is ignoring us too, the blue-eyed boy thought.

Realizing her mistake, Sally slapped her forehead, “Haha, I’m sorry. What are your names?” Shiit! I fucked up so bad. But I really don’t care about these pricks.

Pointing at herself, the brown haired girl introduced herself, “I’m called Sada Nyssa. He is my brother, Sam Nyssa,” she added, pointing at the yellow-eyed boy.

“True, even your eyes are the same beautiful yellow,” Sally buttered up to them a bit to correct her mistake. As arrogant as they were, wide smiles splattered on their faces upon hearing her compliment.

Sally looked at the blue-eyed boy, who stuck out his chest as he announced his name, “My name is Valdez Diogenia Daelbata!” Furrowing her brows, Sally showed an awkward smile, “I- I’ll call you Valdez if you don’t mind.” Seeing him nod his head, her body eased up as she thought, For the Creator's sake… these people are more tiring than a full-blown training through the whole day. I must get away or do something else I’ll get really pissed off.

“I shall show you your rooms,” she continued…

They spent two days in the city, looking around and wasting their time before deciding that it was time for them to do what they came here for.

-------------

“Mhhh~ I slept so well,” Elena moaned as she opened her bleary eyes and stretched out her limbs, Dred’s soft fur rubbing her right side.

“It tickles,” she chuckled, scratching her arms and then rubbing her eyes. Sitting up, she looked around in the room, her back resting on Dred’s.

“Why are you moving around so much?” he couldn’t help but ask as he woke up because of her.

“Oh, you are up! Hear me out!” she said with a bright smile before telling Cor’s evolution path to Dred and his abilities.

*Yawn* “That’s great, though I wanted to sleep a bit more.”

“You have slept enough! Let’s wake up! I want to meet that teacher and fight with him!”

“You are just going to beat him up…”

“No, I could kill him or beat him up in the blink of an eye and there would be no point to it that way. I want to learn!”

“Is that so?”

“Yes.”

“Sure? Promise?”

“Without a doubt!”

Sighing loudly, Dred got out of the soft bed, “Fine then.”

After patting his head, Elena covered her naked body with thin clothes, weaved from her shadow.

Tilting his head to the side, Dred commented, “Sometimes I can’t help but think that you are a bit too carefree around me.”

“Is that so?” she asked with a smile, already wearing her leather armor.

“Well, it doesn’t really matter, but you could be a bit more careful.”

Picking up her gloves, she sheathed her throwing knives and daggers as she nodded her head, “If that’s what you wish.”

“You completely don’t care…”

“Haha, I can’t deny that. I’m sorry.”

“Well, it’s just me anyway,” Dred shrugged his shoulders as he got in front of Elena and transformed into his High-Demon form. Grabbing her shoulders, he pushed her on the wall ‘gently’. “Right?” he asked, looking into her eyes.

“Eh? What are you doing?” Elena asked, her eyes darting around.

Dred let go of her as he turned around and walked towards the door, “Let’s go, you won’t be able to train otherwise.”

“You are strange…” she said while looking at his back, feeling a bit lost at what just happened. Shrugging her shoulders, she followed him.

---

Thanks to knowing the local language, she easily found Salem, who was in his office, planning on how to manage the military forces once they get in control of the territory of the Sliton Empire. Elena didn’t even know that most of the neighboring kingdoms saw what she did on the battlefields, making them feel afraid of her. The cleverer ones sent diplomats, while the stupid ones sent assassins.

“Hello, General! I came to claim my reward!” she said with a smile as she barged into his office. Ignoring her rudeness, a smile formed on his face as he got up from his seat and greeted her.

“Good morning. I’ll guide you to the best teacher we have.”

“Aren’t you the most powerful fighter in the kingdom? Why don’t you fight me?”

“The strongest Magician is our King, while I am the strongest melee fighter. But I’m not good when it comes to teaching. In fact, even I’m under this teacher’s guidance secretly. Please don’t spread it or my reputation would go down the drain,” he winked at Elena.

“Haha, I can keep secrets. Alright then, I’ll see this teacher you are so proud of.”

“Ugh… please don’t kill him.”

“Why does everyone think that I want to kill him?! I’m a gentle lady!” she shook her head, feeling wronged.

“...”

“Sure you are, right, Dred?” Salem asked, raising a brow.

“Not a chance. She is a maniac.”

“As if you were any different. No, you are even worse since you eat your prey. You chew on their meat with a blissful face every time,” Elena snorted, stopping behind Salem, who stood in front of a wooden door.

You are both bloodthirsty and crazy, Salem thought as a smile formed on his face. But even if they are like this, they are quite amusing. They aren’t bad people, I guess.

“Who is that?” a cracky voice came through the door.

“I’m Salem. I brought your new students to you. It’s the King’s order to obey her wish and teach her, along with her friends if they wish to.”

“I understand,” the voice replied as the door opened, revealing a hundred and sixty centimeters tall old man.

“So short,” Elena exclaimed before quickly covering her mouth. “I’m sorry…”

“I’ve got it many times before,” the old man waved his hand as he walked past Elena, his shoulder bumping into her soft chest.

Furrowing her brows, she stepped to the side and followed him. Sensing a pair of glaring eyes, Elena turned around, only to see Dred. He is quite weird today, she thought with a shrug.

They reached a twenty square meters large area. The ground was paved with flat and smooth tiles. Although the sun was glaring at them, the cold wind of autumn cooled the air. A shudder ran through the old man’s body as he felt a cold breeze blow through his thin clothes.

“You are dressed up too much. Get out of your armor,” he demanded. Raising a brow, Elena took off her armor, leaving only her thin clothes, draping tightly around her body. If he asks me to take off these too, I’ll have to break my promise and kill him… she thought with a frown on her face. Luckily for the old man, he wasn’t greedy enough.

His eyes ran over her young body as he said, “You don’t seem to shudder in this cold breeze, you must have trained your body in the cold, haven’t you? Or if not, then it must be nice to be young.”

“Well, for one, my body is a bit different than yours and for two, I did train my body ever since I was born. I’m not lacking in training methods. I’m lacking in knowledge of how to use my strength,” she replied, while Dred transformed into his demon form and stood beside Elena, half naked.

“Are you joining too?” she asked with a surprised face.

“Of course, if I have to fight in this form for some unknown reason, then it is best if I’m not a total loser,” he replied with a nod of his head.

“What the hell are you?” the old man couldn’t help but curse out loud upon seeing Dred’s demonic look.

“Let’s say that I’m something like a demon in my current form,” he replied with a smile.

“Alright… Let’s see. Warm up at first and then you should attack me. I want to see what you know.”

Dred and Elena ran a few laps around the big area while using Gravity Magic to make it harder. “Who is going first?” the old man asked upon seeing them stopping in front of him while he was stretching his limbs.

“I’ll go first,” Elena stepped forward.

Taking a stance, the Old man waited for her to attack. Looking at his legs, she imagined a few possible movements she could do from that stance. Thinking of a counter-attack, she charged at him. She controlled her strength and tuned it down to the old man’s level. Her fist was about to reach his face when he ducked down and punched forward. Considering his height, she expected it and used her flexible body to lean to the side, surprising the old man.

“You aren’t bad,” he muttered as he turned his feet and suddenly moved his fist towards her stomach again. Feeling tingly inside, Elena was barely able to hold back her abilities and simply use her Shadow Step to get behind him. But knowing that it would make her training pointless, she stepped back.

“Nice! If you tried to duck down, with my short height, I could have easily hit your head instead of missing” he complimented her clever decisions.

I don’t have human instincts she thought, feeling proud of her race.

Seeing him standing in place, she knew that she had to attack again. She punched forward in the same manner, but a second later she stopped her fist and raised her leg. The old man’s eyes shone with interest upon seeing her deceptive movement. Raising his left arm, he left his side wide opened for her to attack. Thinking that it was a trap, she pulled her leg towards the ground in mid-air and rotated, trying to kick his head with her other leg by using her momentum.

A grin formed on the Old man’s face as he suddenly charged towards her. As a result, her leg hit nothing but air and only her thigh touched his shoulder, which barely had any force in it. Opening his palm, his hand shot towards Elena’s chest. Although she controlled her strength, her perception was way above what the old man could even imagine. In fact, she was trying hard to control the speed of her limbs and not just beat him up in a moment.

She saw his hand twitch as he made a gripping movement. She knew that in a normal battle, he would be able to grab her chest now, but she didn’t intend to let any men grope her body. Appearing behind him with her Shadow Step, she evaded his perverted hand and slapped the back of his head. “Stop trying to molest me or I’ll beat you up. I came here to learn from you,” she said with furrowed brows.

“Damn it, this hurts like hell!” he shouted, rubbing the back of his head.

“I might have used a bit more strength than intended, sorry about that,” she said in a low voice.

“Teacher, please take them seriously and drop your habits. They saved our kingdom, is this how you thank them? You would have been overrun and killed by the enemy soldiers if not for them,” Salem commented from the back, his voice stern and angry.

“Fine. Keke, but she is really alluring, you should look at her from this angle-” the old man started, but another slap came from Elena, making him shut up.

“The next one will tear your head off,” she added, not tolerating the old man’s antics, even if others would find it ‘funny’ to look at.

Seeing that she was really pissed off, and feeling Dred’s murderous, bloodthirsty aura, he couldn’t help but finally take them seriously. But before he could say anything, a shout resounded on the training ground. The wind carried the language of Dunk planet into Elena’s ears.

“Where is that Magician who speaks my language?”

Turning around, she saw a long, blonde haired, handsome man, whose body was covered in a black cape. Tilting her head to the side, she made a surprised face. Inspect.

Name: Caleb

Race: Human

Level: 374

Threat Level: 10

What the fuck? She cursed in her mind as a stiff smile formed on her face.

“It’s me,” she replied with the usual volume of her voice, knowing that he would hear her.

Noticing Elena and remembering Sally’s description about that mysterious black haired girl, Caleb couldn’t help but frown. Is this girl our… enemy? He thought.

--------------------