"Join my group?" Kail echoed. His gaze lingered on his mother. "I...don't trust her."

Serena looked down at Kail with sympathy. "I cannot blame you for that. After all, they all turned against you so easily."

Kail gave a slight nod in acknowledgement of Serena's words as he thought about the possibilities if his mother were to join him. With her powerful magic, she would make a great addition to the team. She could also use her knowledge as a noble to handle political problems.

Yet there was a possibility that she might be a spy even if Izabella had been the one to select her. Kail had more than enough experience with betrayal to know anyone can put on a kind face before stabbing you in the back. It had been a common story in his previous life.

"Why would Izabella choose her?" he asked Serena, hating the fact that he couldn't speak with Izabella herself at the moment.

Serena smiled. "Your mother's thoughts are full of concern and worry for you. While she is scared of the Darkness element, she loves you too much to see you as a monster that society claims you to be. I know you are worried about whether or not she can be trusted but, as of right now, she can be trusted. Perhaps even in the future."

Kail let out a sigh. He felt that Serena wasn't lying. "I guess having another ally wouldn't hurt." He frowned. "But if she shows any sign of betrayal, I'm sending her home if I can avoid killing her."

Serena held out a hand and pointed towards his mother. "Fair enough. I will join your party as well. If I find any traitorous thoughts in her head, I will let you know." With that said, a light appeared at her fingertip. It burst to life like a spark.

She swiftly moved her hand in a horizontal line to the right. The air warped and shifted like ripples in water. This grabbed the attention of Esmerelda and she focused on the sudden bright white line in the air.

It quickly dissipated and the ripples revealed Kail and Serena. Kail was startled to find that she could now see the two of them and looked up at Serena for answers as Esmerelda jumped to her feet, her eyes wide.

Serena let out a soft chuckle. "I broke the barrier between the spirit and living realms."

"Oh," was all Kail could say. He focused on his mother.

She was starting to cry and seemed to want to rush over to him.

Kail felt guilty about the distrust he felt towards her. This woman seemed to care greatly about him still.

"Serena, why did you bring Kail here?" came Izabella's annoyed voice. "You realize that now Nova and Spider are no doubt panicking about his body vanishing before their eyes, right?"

Serena just smiled innocently. Izabella sighed in frustration. Kail looked at Serena again with a questioning look before shaking his head, deciding to deal with it later. He looked back at his mother. There was no time for a heartfelt reunion.

"Mother, I will allow you to travel with me. I will explain more later on what is going on. For now, we need to hurry to my companions. Like Izabella said, they're going to be panicking. Serena, Izabella, is there any way to teleport to them?"

Esmerelda wiped her tears away as she worked to calm herself down.

Serena seemed to beam with pride. "That's nothing for me. We will take a spirit path to them."

She snapped her fingers and a tunnel suddenly flickered into view to her right. It was a clear round tunnel with a red carpet on the floor. It was large enough to fit Esmerelda's mare. Serena cast her gaze over to Esmerelda.

"Since we are on a time limit, I shall help you pack." She snapped her fingers again and suddenly the air was full of spirit sprites. The small humanoid spirits were about the size of her hand. They got to work on packing Esmerelda's things onto the mare.

Esmerelda couldn't help but stare in awe. Kail also watched closely, studying each one he could.

It wasn't long before the group was stepping into the tunnel. Upon entering, Kail felt weightless. He noticed Izabella suddenly appear in front of him.

She was looking back at him with a smile.

She had shimmering black hair that went to the small of her back. Her eyes were like obsidian. She was tall and wore a shimmering black dress with long bell sleeves. The bottom of her dress was wispy and transparent.

But what caught his eye was her skin. While it was a bit transparent like her dress, it was speckled with shimmering black spots of varying sizes.

Then, when the opening closed, they were shot forward at great speed. It startled Kail, his mother and her mare.

Before he could comprehend what was happening, they were standing before Nova and Spider. The two were searching for Kail and had left camp.

The two elves were startled by their sudden appearance when the tunnel opened up and the group stepped out. They were about to try and snatch Kail away immediately upon seeing him but Kail held his hand up to stop them.

A smile was on his face. "Don't worry. I'm fine. I just went to get my mother."

Their gazes went to the woman leading a horse. She gave a nervous smile. It was obvious that Nova and Spider did not trust her. The two had narrowed their eyes at her.

"To explain, Serena here pulled me to the spirit realm to where my mother was. Izabella has made my mother a warrior," Kail explained while motioning to Serena.

"Can she be trusted? She is at fault for you having to leave," Nova said with a glare in her direction.

Kail stepped forward till he was between the two elves and turned around to face the two gods and his mother. "Serena says she can be trusted. For now. I will trust Serena's words." His cold gaze met his mother's worried one.

Esmerelda could feel the anger and distrust aimed at her and she wanted to fall into a hole. The guilt of having betrayed him grew. She knew no apology could ever make up for what she had done.

She swallowed and tried to put on a confident face. "I will never betray you again. I will prove to you that I am forever on your side."

"That remains to be seen," he said. He introduced Nova and Spider to her.

Izabella, having turned invisible again, spoke up after the introductions. "We will watch over you four so get some rest."

Serena smiled. "She's right. You still have a long way to go."

Kail nodded. "Thank you."

"Anything for the great hero," Serena said happily before turning invisible.

Kail turned his attention to the two elves. "Let's head back to camp and get some rest."

Spider glanced at Esmerelda with uncertainty before leading the way. It wasn't long before the four of them were laying down near a fire. The mare was tied to a tree and had fallen asleep after grazing for a bit.

Esmerelda, despite her exhaustion, was gazing up at the thick canopy, trying to make out the stars between the leaves. Her mind was reflecting on how coldly Kail was treating her. She hated it but knew he had every right to be upset and distrustful towards her.

The way he was treated like an adult rather than a child was also mindboggling for her. She knew that he was from another world and that his soul itself was an adult. With his child body, though, it was hard to take him seriously at first.

Nova and Spider both treated him with utmost respect and seemed to be very close to him. With one look, it was easy to tell they had formed a strong bond between each other.

She wondered if she would ever share a strong bond with Kail again and if Kail would even let her attempt to make it up to him.

Esmerelda glanced at his sleeping form across from her. She steeled her resolve to make it up to him as she closed her eyes. With a memory of him being a tiny infant in her arms playing in her mind, she drifted off to sleep.

The rest of the journey was slowed down due to a few problematic beasts rampaging thanks to the group being in their territory. It was a perfect chance for Kail to do some real life battle training though Esmerelda couldn't help but worry each time.

She was scared he would be badly injured or killed yet Kail proved each time that his skills were more than enough to take on the powerful large beasts.

Since she joined them, they were even able to relax their pace. The urgency of fleeing the Phoenix family was no longer there after she explained that no one knew Kail had escaped the city.

Before Kail knew it, a month had passed. Upon arrival, they found themselves face to face with a red barrier that reached high into the sky.

"This barrier keeps everyone out," Esmerelda said while Kail looked down at the map in his hands. "The area marked in red on the map shows the size of the barrier."

Nova grinned. "This barrier is made by my sect. We will have no problems getting in."

With that said, he stepped up to the transparent red barrier. He placed his hand on it and the barrier parted like watery curtains just wide enough for them to pass through.

Nova led the way through as Esmerelda questioned the history she had learned. "Nova, we were taught that the barrier was created by the Warrior of Light. You said it was made by your sect?"

"Ha! That bastard is always being credited with things he never did. Our history says that a blood mage created this barrier to protect us. Same with the barriers around the other forbidden zones. The Warrior of Light wasn't capable of creating barriers in the first place." Nova's grin was replaced with a hateful frown.