”You’re packing up I see” she came to his workbench where several apparatuses were fuming up colorful smokes,
”I know what you’re thinking and no. You can’t come with me until you get the holidays”
Gaya sighed instead of arguing with him. She expected this answer and in fact, she would be more helpful to him in the Akilan realm than in the outside world.
”So you’re going to Gisel or the sect?” asked Gaya while dismantling his apparatus setup,
”Gisel. I want to find more about the vampires and I have a feeling, the vampires have something to do with Peyton and Sabrina’s disappearance”
”Hmm” Gaya continued to help him pack all the things. The silver scroll offered to him by Professor Lane enabled him to use Arch energy, not that he needed a scroll to use Arch energy, now no one would suspect him.
The room looked clean and rather empty after he put everything into the system storage. He was too busy cleaning everything up to notice the sad look on Gaya’s face.
Finally, when he turned around, he saw her standing in the center of the room sad-faced. He put everything on hold and approached her,
”Just ten more months, snakey” he said gently cupping her hand,
”I know”
Her voice stuttered due to her trying to hide her sadness. How could she hide anything from Michael when he knows her completely? So he just smiled before kissing her right between her eyes.
”We are gonna spend eternity together. So don’t worry”
She couldn’t hold back her feelings as he locked her lips with his. Good thing Michael scanned the room and made it spyproof. Although it’s said that Mazeroth doesn’t spy on students, he didn’t believe them.
Soon, they stopped kissing to embrace each other.
”I’m gonna miss you,” She said, hugging him as tight as she could.
”Me too”
”Hmm, where is that flying lizard?”
”Here” Gaya shuddered. She quickly let go of Michael, turned around, and saw Nightmare flying before her.
”Fuck! Don’t sneak up on me ugly brat” she tried to grab Nightmare but he evaded her easily,
”I didn’t sneak up on you, you were just too busy being lovey dovey”
”You’re gonna pay for that!” with her threat began their cat and mouse chase around the room.
Considering Michael created his new potion which he still has to name in this room, he was extremely thorough in cleaning the room. He didn’t leave a single speck of evidence that could be traced back to the new potion.
”Got you” after chasing Nightmare for five minutes, she finally caught him.
She head-locked Nightmare, knocking him on the head repeatedly.
”I am so happy we are leaving you behind”
”Ah Nightmare” Michael called Nightmare as they both looked at him. An evil grin quickly emerged on Gaya’s face.
”Sorry to burst your bubble, but you’re not coming” Nightmare was shocked.
”What the fuck?” he growled, still being locked under her arms.
”I can’t take you with me, the scroll was pretty clear about it”
Michael took out the silver scroll from his storage and threw it at Gaya,
Both the Snake and the Dragon curiously read the contents written on the silvern parchment,
’Familiars are not allowed to leave Akilan Realm’ Gaya read the line out aloud before closing the scroll,
”Now that I think about it, Gilrine was talking about some pocket dimension”
”What pocket dimension?” Nightmare growled. He was not at all happy about staying in Mazeroth without Michael. He would have been less pissed about this if he was able to stay with Gaya. Unfortunately, no one was allowed inside staff quarters. Thus, Nightmare had to stay in the room alone or with Elidyr who spent most of his time cultivating, meditating, and reading books in the library.
”I think they are planning to bring all the familiars into a pocket dimension for training or something”
”It will be a good experience for you Nightmare” Michael rubbed Nightmare’s head playfully after coming to him.
”I think Elidyr is in the library” seeing Eldiyr hadn’t returned to the room, Michael realized he might still be in the library.
”Here take these”
Gaya saw two black rings appear on his palm,
”Space ring?” Gaya tilted her head,
”Modified interlinked space rings. We can use this across realms” said Michael.
These two rings cost him 10,000 badass points each in the system store. He wouldn’t have bought them if they weren’t vital to his plans. Using these rings, even after leaving the Akilan realm, Michael could provide Gaya and Elidyr with necessary items from his side and vice versa.
The downside of these rings was he wouldn’t be able to store anything weighing more than 50kg and space rings. Because of this restriction, it was borderline impossible to work on devices that required Elidyr’s runes, for instance, the mortar. Fortunately, by the start of next month, everyone would get holidays and be allowed to leave the Akilan realm. That time, the two of them could finally finish building the mortar and hopefully more powerful devices for Bertha.
”Give the other to Elidyr when you see him”
After everything was said and done, Michael was ready to leave the Akilan realm for Gisel.
”Aren’t you going to meet Lane?” Gaya asked,
”You’ve seen him. He is not very good at connecting with people. Besides, he’s pissed at me for not making a breakthrough in Alchemy by creating an entirely a new potion or a pill”
”Less he knows you already created one” nightmare joined the conversation,
”And it will stay that way” Michael’s voice became serious,
”I haven’t perfected this potion. But even in this imperfect state, this potion is a game-changer”
They both nodded in agreement.
”I will see you two later”
Since there were no obligations left in the Akilan realm, Michael activated the silver scroll by sending the scroll a silver of arch energy. The next moment, a bright light enveloped him and disappeared in a few seconds along with Michael.
”Okay lizard, I have classes. I’ll see you later, stay out of trouble” Gay rubbed Nightmare on the head with a smile,
”You too. You’re the one who should be careful”
She gave a nod before leaving the room through the window. Little did Nightmare know at this time that in the pocket dimension, he would meet two other dragons who were going to change his life.
*****************************************
Life without Gaya and Ghost was so boring to Vedora, especially to Ayag and Sarba. It had been approximately three months since Ghost and Gaya left for Mazeroth. The only entertainment they had after coming out of cultivation was the surveillance mirror. The three of them watched all the footage live and recorded it to find out more about the vampires.
There were barely any drones or Spycams on the Southern continent excluding the homes of senators and Stormville mountain. Otherwise, they would have tracked the vampire who apparently massacred a village on the outskirts of Gisel.
”If Azazel let Dular take us to the crime scene, I can try to track the vampire” Sarba meekly said,
”And I can test my new scorching breath on that bloodsucker,” Ayag said without bothering to hide her arrogance.
Nothing much changed in their behavior or physical bodies in these three months except their powers. Ayag now could breathe fire in addition to her ability to shoot sonic waves and Sarba developed powerful senses.
His senses let Sarba locate a living being using the heartbeat from a mile away. That was one of the senses he had. Taste, smell, vision, hearing, every sense known to man was heightened for Sarba.
”I don’t believe our Core Formation level 5 will be enough to go head to head with the vampire. We know nothing about their kind” Cain calmly said only to get a headbutt from Ayag,
”Don’t worry black, I’m sure you will get a power of your own soon. It’s obvious you’re a late bloomer hehehe”
Cain ignored Ayag’s mockery and concentrated on the footage before him.
”Master Cain, Master Sarba, Miss Ayag, it’s bedtime” the three of the saw Azazel’s ethereal form materialize before them,
”We don’t need sleep demon, move away, you’re blocking our view” Ayag growled at Azazel but he handled her with a gentle smile on his face,
”Your bodies need rest Miss Ayag. Besides, you can miss something so obvious when your mind is exhausted”
”He is right” Sarba was the good boy among the three. So he agreed with Azazel which earned him a headbutt from the rebel child Ayag.
”Let’s go Sarba” Cain moved his head towards the door to leave the room. Since two out of three agreed upon sleeping, Ayag had no choice but to go with them despite how she felt.
However, just as they were about to flap their tiny wings, Azazel’s eyes opened wide. Soon an elated smile emerged on his face,
The three of them were completely taken aback by his surprise.
”He is here” Sarba joyfully said as he sensed a powerful figure walking toward them and he had no doubt that this powerful radiation belonged to none other than Ghost.
Just as he said, the door opened to reveal Michael in his usual black attire.
”Ghost!” Even the normally silent Cain grinned and leaped at Ghost excitedly. They were so surprised and happy to see him again. They wrapped their heads around his neck, showering him with kisses as though they were puppies.
”My lord” Azazel quickly went to his knees as his eyes were brimming with the joy of seeing his lord return.
”Nightmare and Gaya, where are they?” Ayag and Sarba asked in unison,
”My Lord, congratulations on reaching the Soul Refining Stage” when talking to Michael through the Spyders and mirror before, Azazel couldn’t see the level of Michael’s cultivation stage. Right at the moment, the demon butler could feel the immense power he was radiating and sense his cultivation stage.
”And I have to congratulate you for reaching Core Strengthening level 8,”
For some reason, Michael wasn’t surprised by the demon reaching Core Strengthening stage level 8 from level 5 in a few months, virtually doing nothing. The demon butler was bound to Michael so the stronger Michael was, the stronger the demon butler would be.
”I’m unworthy of such words my lord” Azazel bowed as Michael turned his gaze towards the three heads staring at him for an answer about Gaya and Nightmare,
”They will soon”
The moment he placed them on the table, they began to nag him about what happened in Mazeroth. It took him almost an hour to finish narrating everything that happened in Mazeroth and answer their questions.
”Azazel, tell Maxine and Tiberius to meet me in Caius’s home”
”Yes my lord”
Azazel nodded,
”Now let’s go meet Aria and her brothers”