At the same time, somewhere, in a room, a young girl was being held captive. It was Gracier; she was handcuffed, she wore a simple white robe.
More than five days that she was being held here, nothing was done to her; in the morning and evening, someone would come to give her food; today was the same as well.
''Eat, soon it will be your turn.''
The man that brought Gracier's food told her. Gracier showed no response; her eyes seemed dead. Although nothing was done to her except being imprisoned and having her blood taken, it could be said that it was peaceful. However, this didn't stop Gracier from blaming herself; they have come for her; if not because of her, Maria, Luna, Sakuya, and Leon wouldn't have been injured; back then, it was because of her that two-headed ogre attacked them, she knew it. It was as if calamity follow her wherever she goes.
While Gracier was lost in thoughts, the man that brought her food added before leaving.
''By the way, your brother has moved, to search for you, hehehehe! It's going to be fun.''
A little bit of light returned to Gracier's eyes; she was happy to hear that her brother was coming for her; she almost smiled for the first time since her capture; however, this smile disappeared before it could appear because she thought of a certain possibility, a dreadful possibly which is, they are also targeting Alex.
What if all of this was a part of their plan to draw Alex to them? What if it was him they really want? Was she just the bait?
If this is true, then everything makes sense. Why, after catching her, nothing had been done to her.
Ba-dump! Ba-dump! Ba-dump!
Gracier's heartbeat quickened, she started to have trouble breathing, she tried to break free from her restraints to end up failing, she knew she must warn him, warn him not to come, that this is a trap.
''Big brother, don't come. It's a trap.'' Gracier sent a message to her brother, hoping that this message reaches him; she forgot about her rescue; all she currently want was her brother's safety.
•••••
In another room more spacious and comfier were Maddog and the man with golden eyes.
''So, he has departed?"
It was Maddog that asked this question. The man with golden eyes nodded.
''Yeah! It seems that their first destination will be El-Reech. Zero is accompanying them.''
''I see; when do we start the extraction of the girl's eye?''
Maddog asked before adding.
''You know, it won't be long before the vice leader connects the dots and come after us. Sorry, I want to live a little bit longer, so we must finish things asap.''
''Tch!"
The man with golden eyes clicked his tongue in annoyance when his father was brought out.
''We will start the operation in few days. And also, what is the result of the analysis? Did you find anything after checking the girl's blood?"
''There is High Elf blood mixed with another blood I can't identify. I need more blood to identify which type of blood it is and its origin.'' Maddog explained, there was a dangerous glint inside his eyes want he was talking about needing more blood.
The man with golden eyes sighed and said.
''I understand what you want but do not touch her before I get what I want. When I'm done, you may do whatever you want with her. Also, start to prepare for our guests, even though I doubt they will be able to locate us, we must prepare to secure the eighth. Alice needs to be ready; how is her condition?"
''Pretty well, I believe in five more days she would have recuperated. Ah! To think Zero would be this powerful, she killed that failure, almost killed Alice, and even injuring you. Elseria's blades must not be underestimated.'' Maddog responded while recalling the state Alice came back in, she had her legs and one arm cut off, while the man with golden eyes was seriously injured.
''Good, I shall take my leave then.''
The man with golden eyes declared and left.
Alone, Maddog smiled wicked.
''Huehuehue! Soon I will get my hand on another good specimen. What you don't is that I believe the second blood mixed in Gracier's blood is the same with the eighth blood, the legendary blood. When I have him in my hands, I will completely drain his blood to use on myself. Hehehe! After that, I will become more perfect, live long to continue with my research, and one day create a being surpassing the Gods. Hehehehe!"
Maddog laughed while envisioning his bright future where he and his creations dominate the world.
•••••
On the west side of Avalon was El-Reech, the coastal city. The city was built on the banks of a delicate natural harbor and was indeed a gorgeous marvel.
Alex's group entered the city. They were not in the mood to enjoy; the city was said to be only second to Avalon in terms of beauty. Buildings here high, the tallest ones, have a backdrop of cascading waterfalls.
For the group to travel a thousand kilometers in few hours was because they used teleportation devices; although costly, it was faster and more secure.
''Let's go book rooms first.'' Alex proposed before taking the lead to go to the best Inn in the city.
Reech's Inn was the best in the city; the mayor of El-Reech city owned it. Alex booked two rooms, one for him and the other one was for the girls.
After visiting his room, Alex, Luna, and Sakuya left for the adventurer guild branch here.
Like the other adventurer guilds, the El-Reech guild branch was packed; adventurers could be seen taking quests, some came back and decided to celebrate their success. Dungeons existed in El-Reech as well, as well black Iron mines.
The moment Alex's group entered, they gathered all attention.
''Wow! Today is a blessed day. For us to see two beautiful women, this doesn't happen every day. Should I try my luck?"
One of the drinking adventurers declared, his voice was pretty loud; the adventurers staying at the same table as the man laughed hard, they didn't bother to hide their lust.
Sakuya's eyes turned cold before she started smiling; from the onlookers' point of view, it was like she was seducing them, their lust skyrocketed, some started to stand up to approach Alex's group; however, before they could take their second step, they froze in place because Alex glared at them, it then became aware that Alex wasn't just some pretty flower, some pretty boy, he had the ability, his strength was above them, nobody tried to mess with Alex's group.
Alex ignored the look of awe he was receiving after intimidating the lecherous adventurers and went to update their cards; the receptionist was surprised to see that Alex's group was C Rank adventurers. (A/N: Their rank got updated as part of the rewards for completing the dungeon's trial.)
''Mr. Alexander, how long are you planning to stay here?"
The receptionist inquired, and Alex responded,
''I don't know; I will depend on what we have come to do. They said you might have some information for me?"
''Yeah! Here is what we managed to find. There is almost nothing. Nothing unusual happened in the mines, nothing in the area surrounding the mines, everything is peaceful.'' the receptionist explained. At the same time, she hands over a paper that contains the information they have gathered. It was Elseria who ordered the guild to collect some information.
''I see, thank you. This will be enough; as for the rest, I will take care of it myself.''
Alex said and left the guild with the girls; Sera didn't come with them as she had her plan.
When they left the guild, the sky had turned dark, announcing the arrival of the night.
''Lex, what do you plan to do from now on?"
Luna, who held Alex's hand, asked; Sakuya was curious as well. Therefore she paid attention to Alex's following words.
''Huh?! Let's see, I will visit the bar, I believe it's where you can collect more information, so you two should head back and rest. Tomorrow we will start the search.'' Alex explained what he intended to them.
''Okay, understand. Try not to act recklessly. We will be waiting.'' Sakuya said before kissing Alex on the cheek; Luna also did the same.
Looking at the leaving girl's back, Alex sighed, he usually would have taken advantage of them, tease them when they kissed him, but currently, he can't because he was thinking about how to find his sister.
''Sigh! Let's go. I know you have already come back and protecting me from the shadow. Come out, let's go.''
Alex said, if there were a passerby at the moment, people would have thought that he was crazy for talking as if there was someone beside him; however, nobody was there.
''Fufufu! It seems that becoming Rank 10 made your senses sharper, usually you couldn't detect my presence even when I was close to you.''
Sera dressed in black appeared; Alex didn't respond to her; he only said.
''Let's go.''