The next day,
A woman with blazing red hair is currently lying on a bed, she’s sleeping with a painful look on her face but then suddenly she jolted awake gasping for air.
This woman is none other than Evelyn,
Evelyn woke up from her sleep sweating before she looks the place she was in, she realize that she was back in her room at the university.
‘This is my room…’, she thought after looking around.
When she tries to remember what happened to her, there’s a ringing pain inside her head making her clasp her head with her hand.
Her body is very weak and she can’t remember anything,
After the ringing pain is gone, Evelyn glances to her side and finds a glass of water there.
Feeling an iron taste in her mouth and also a bit dry, Evelyn reaches for the glass of water on the desk beside her bed with her right hand while the other hand is still clasping her head.
But when she grabs the water, she accidentally knocked the glass of water off the desk.
Evelyn snapped her head to the side and saw the glass of water is falling from the desk, but out of nowhere her body moves on her own, and before she even realize it,
The glass of water is already in her hand, she caught the glass of water in reflex.
‘How did I do that?’, Evelyn thought in confusion since her body is currently weak.
After shaking her head, she chugged the glass of water emptying it before putting the glass back on the desk again.
The moment she drank the glass of water, Evelyn started to feel better.
She then sits on the bed while leaning back on the headboard of the bed, the ringing pain in her head has become bearable as she looks at the window and finds that the sun is shining brightly.
But then, Evelyn frowned when she saw a couple of birds passing by her window.
The chirping birds are flying at a decent speed through the air, but when she focused a bit the birds started to flap their wings in a slow motion.
It weirded Evelyn out as she blinks a couple of times, ‘What was that?’
“Aren’t you excited about the official meetings?”
“Of course I am! The SCO was once our enemies, it’s a bit unbelievable that we’re allying with them like this”
“There are rumors that they can make normal humans powerful by using drugs”
“Really? Then can it be done to Awa-“
Evelyn heard a conversation, she gets up from the bed slowly before popping her head out of the window and looking around.
Her room is not on the first or second floor, it’s quite up.
After looking around, Evelyn saw two students conversing with each other below which should be impossible for her to hear their conversation so vividly like this.
‘How can I hear them from here?’, Evelyn thought in confusion.
In about half an hour,
Evelyn started to vaguely remember that she should be exploring the canyon, the last thing she remember was seeing the wild cat trapped by Rex’s spell.
But she didn’t remember what happened after that.
Shaking her head, Evelyn then went to the bathroom after feeling a bit better.
The clothes she’s wearing are not the same as when she went to the canyon, but she didn’t put much thought into it as she enters the bathroom.
Without wasting any second,
Evelyn strips naked right after entering the bathroom exposing her beautiful curves before stepping into the shower box and turning the shower on.
The warm water coming out of the shower makes Evelyn frown,
Evelyn then taps on the screen beside the shower intending to raise the temperature of the water, but she frowns when she saw the water temperature has already been set to warm.
‘Why is it not warm?’, she thought in confusion.
Although a bit annoyed, Evelyn took her shower before getting out of the shower box about ten minutes later with a towel wrapped around her body.
Evelyn took a hairdryer before she started to dry her hair in front of the mirror,
‘Is it just my imagination, or am I looking a bit different’, she thought.
The reflection in the mirror shows that Evelyn’s well-built body is looking more refined, she worked very hard to make her body looks good but today is a bit better.
But she then shakes her head and continued drying her hair,
Amidst drying her hair while humming lightly, she suddenly saw a glimpse of something on the back of her neck which makes her squint her eyes in confusion.
This prompted Evelyn to turn around to see what it is,
To Evelyn’s surprise, she saw a black star mark on her nape that almost looks like a tattoo.
Upon seeing this black star mark, Evelyn frowned as she remembers seeing a similar mark on Adhara’s neck but her mark is silver-colored rather than black.
Evelyn touches the black mark as she frowns, ‘What is this…?’
‘Where did this come from?’, she thought as she didn’t remember this black star mark.
~
After exploring the canyon with the descendants, Rex went straight back to the university.
The moment he enters the room, Adhara is already waiting for him.
Rex was a little bit nervous upon seeing Adhara’s face, he even can’t help but be unable to look at Adhara properly but turns out Adhara told him some great news.
“Look at this… I think this can be considered an Ultra-Grade Purple Firestone”, she said.
Hearing this, Rex looks at the purple crystal she’s holding before taking it from her hand, “It’s a higher grade alright, how did you make this?”, he asks.
“I combined spirit energy and wind mana into it”, Adhara replied.
She then continues, “Although I failed for hours before finally succeeding, this elemental stone is worth the effort. What do you think? Should I tell this to Daniel and sell it?”
Rex then sits on the sofa while looking at the crystal in thought,
‘I need gold to prepare for what’s about to come, although it’s risky, I need the money’, Rex thought, he only has a few hundred thousand dollars worth of gold right now.
After deliberating for a moment, Rex then turns to Adhara, “You can bring this to Daniel”
“But remember to only talk about this to Daniel, and also don’t settle for anything below a million for each of this Ultra-Grade firestone”, Rex added.
Upon hearing this, Adhara nodded her head before Rex left for his room.
She didn’t forget to give Rex the money she got,
Rex accepted it before giving Adhara a kiss on her cheek, but this somewhat feels different.
Adhara looks at Rex and saw a weird change in his emotional aura, it was grey, unlike his usual emotional aura which was supposed to be red.
She frown even harder when she saw Rex’s emotional grey color turns red again,
This change in emotional aura color happened right after Rex turns away from her, and this made Adhara squints her eyes suspiciously as Rex entered his bedroom.
Another day has passed,
Ryze came back to the room in a bad state, the doctor brought Ryze back to Rex’s room explaining that he wasn’t able to find the cause of Ryze’s sick state.
It is surprising to see the current state Ryze is in,
Pale face with body emitting steam, the pained expression as the doctor said that he’s already unconscious these past couple of days, and also the weird red spots around his body.
Just from the doctor’s explanation alone, Adhara is still confused.
She’s the one that received the doctor bringing back Ryze, but nevertheless, she puts Ryze in his room before she frowns, ‘When did he get sick?’, she thought.
It has not been that long since the last time Adhara saw Ryze,
There was no sign of any sickness that might indicate his condition worsening until this state, Ryze’s condition came suddenly which really confused her.
But even the doctor doesn’t know what’s the cause, so she definitely doesn’t know too.
Adhara can only ask Rex about Ryze’s condition, but Rex has been busy these days ever since he got the money from her yesterday.
Rex has been busy doing things inside the room.
Even the butlers and the maids are not permitted to enter the room until he said so, Adhara also saw him talking to Mrs. Greene, Robert, and also her father Russ.
From the looks of it, Rex seems to be preparing for something.
But Adhara didn’t meddle in his affair since he will eventually tell her, she just need to trust Rex and lets him do his thing while she kept training to match his pace.
Today, Rex is not in the room as he said that he will be going out of the university.
Adhara asks where he will be going and Rex replied that he will be meeting with Stevanus, he seems to be in a hurry so Adhara didn’t ask further.
Because of that, when Ryze was delivered back Adhara can’t ask Rex about it.
Kyran joins Adhara training today,
Thanks to absorbing the high-grade Dark stones, Kyran is already ready to assimilate with his own spirit but he doesn’t have the time to meet Rex so he’s still at peak fifth rank.
During their training, Adhara was shocked to find Kyran has new abilities.
While both of them are sparring to train their mastery over their daggers, Kyran suddenly uses some kind of spell that numbs Adhara’s entire sense.
It happened when Kyran merge with the shadow and touch Adhara’s shoulder,
The moment Kyran touched Adhara’s shoulder, her entire view suddenly went numb starting from her sense of touch, vision, and even instincts.
Adhara can only fight against Kyran using her hearing,
But thanks to being a sixth rank Awakened, this numbing spell that Kyran used can be canceled using the brute force of her spirit energy.
Nonetheless, Kyran’s new ability is very strong.
Meanwhile, Rex enters a building that is guarded by many Awakened.
The building is somekind of a hidden place with the cover of a tailor shop, Rex is here to meet with Stevanus Reed under his request.
Because of the appearance of the wild cat in the canyon before,
Seve who is very much injured alongside Tyrcie was saved by Rex, so in return, Rex asks Seve to make a meeting with Stevanus, his father.
With that, Seve agreed which result in today’s meeting.
After entering the tailor shop, Rex was guided by one of the Awakened before he arrives on the second floor which is more spacious than it looks from the outside.
Just like the last time they met, Stevanus is sitting on a chair.
Stevanus is centered around Awakened with stern faces, added with the gaping hole on each of his palms making him impossible to be mistaken for someone else.
Beside Stevanus is not Deniz, but a woman instead.
The woman is chewing a piece of gum while holding a pistol, she plays with the pistol by spinning it by the trigger while keeping her sharp eyes on Rex who just arrived in the room.
Rex steps closer to Stevanus before he stopped a couple of feet away, “Sir Stevanus”
“Thank you for agreeing to meet with me at such short notice, I understand that you’re busy training so I’m thankful for your time”, he added while slightly bowing in respect.
Hearing this, Stevanus raises one of his eyebrows, “You know of the challenge?”
“I’ve heard about your official challenge to Wesley Atkins, in fact, I’m here regarding that matter. I’ve come up with a deal for you in exchange for your help”, Rex replied.
Stevanus leans his head on his fist before he said, “Is this regarding your war?”
“Yes, you know that my problem with Wesley escalated”
“I’m willing to guarantee your win against Wesley and also give you a 30% part of the takings after I’m done with Wesley if you decided to help me “, Rex proposed.
Seeing Stevanus’ leaning his body forward with curious eyes, Rex then explained.
Rex told Stevanus the information he got from Evelyn’s men and also Duncan Platchi, he told him that he wanted to get rid of the Atkins Family which will be in the same favor as Stevanus. He also told a glimpse of his plan to entice Stevanus in helping him.
‘Convincing him shouldn’t be that hard’, Rex thought.
Considering that Stevanus is an enemy of Wesley, asking for his help to take down the Atkins Family should be in his best interests so Rex is not worried.
“I’ll take care of Wesley before your fight with him, this will make you win by default”, Rex said.
After hearing what Rex has to say,
Stevanus deliberates for a moment while looking straight at Rex’s eyes, there doesn’t even any change in his facial expression as he stares at Rex calmly.
In just a moment, he then said, “I’m sorry, but I’m pretty confident in our strength”
“Why do we need you to guarantee our triumph over Wesley? Are you saying that we’re going to lose against Wesley despite we’re the one challenging him?”, Stevanus added.
Hearing this, Rex smiles wryly as the woman beside Stevanus is also squinting her eyes.
The woman might scare Rex during their first meeting back then, now Rex smiles confidently feeling that the woman’s aura doesn’t feel as overwhelming as before.
Rex then said, “I’m not saying that, but it will save you the need to defeat Wesley”
But contrasting with Rex’s expectation, Stevanus suddenly intervenes, “Wesley and I have been fighting for years, we’re more than just enemies especially since he defeat me way back. That’s why I need to defeat Wesley with my own hands, to redeem myself back”
‘So it’s more than just meets the eye, their relationship’, Rex thought with a sigh.
He also remembered that in Norman’s blocked memories, Wesley and Stevanus are fighting years back that looks more like a rival so that explains why Stevanus is acting this way.
After thinking a moment, Rex then suggested, “Then we’ll do it after your fight”
“You might think that Wesley and you are more than just enemies, but trust me on this, Wesley will not fight fairly especially knowing that I’m also a threat. He won’t take the chance of losing to you and risks his family getting weakened”, Rex added.
Since Stevanus challenged Wesley during their fight,
Wesley will definitely take no chances to lose against Stevanus, if he and his trusted men are slightly injured then it will make Rex takes him down easier.
Stevanus stopped for a moment as he squints his eyes,
“That’s just what you’re thinking, Wesley will fight me fairly, I’m sure of it. Also, if you want me to help you then I’m willing to settle with 50% of the takings”, Stevanus said with a stern tone, he somewhat believed that Wesley will not fight dirty.
Rex frowned and paused for a moment before he suddenly said, “How about a bet?”
“Your fight against Wesley will be held on the day after tomorrow, just before the official meeting between the UWO and SCO. If Wesley fights you fairly then you will help me after the fight and you’ll get 50% of the takings. On the contrary, if he fights dirty then you’re going to surrender the fight and help me with my plan just the same but you will only get 10%”
Hearing this, the woman on Stevanus’s side points her gun at Rex, “Watch your tongue”
“I’m merely suggesting a bet, Wesley is under pressure so I’m pretty confident that he will cheat during the fight”, Rex replied nonchalantly, and this made Stevanus frown in his seat.
After deliberating a moment, Stevanus then said, “Deal… I don’t see any loss in this”
“But if you fail to execute your plans then you will need to compensate me, and I’m serious about this”, he added with a warning tone.
Hearing this, a smile crooked up on Rex’s face.
“Don’t worry, if you make a deal with me. You’re victorious already”
At night,
Inside the Wind Sorcerers guild building, Wesley is currently still training.
The power he emitted is like a force of nature as each strike filled with power, a violent gust of wind was produced from each movement of his limbs.
He’s currently inside somekind of training ground,
The fight he will have against Stevanus requires him to be at the peak of his performance, he knows how powerful Stevanus is so he needs to be very careful.
While he’s shadow training, the door into the training ground is opened abruptly.
Upon the door slammed open, Wesley glance to the side and finds Paul walking inside holding somekind of an envelope in his hands.
“Paul? Why are you disturbing my training?”, Wesley asks.
Hearing this, Paul bowed a little before giving Wesley the envelope, “I found this inside the trap house we made, this envelope appears out of nowhere right in the middle of the formation”
“Trap house?”, Wesley mumbles before taking out the content of the envelope.
But upon seeing the content of the envelope, Wesley’s aura burst violently as he clenched the papers in his hand with bloodthirsty eyes.
The content of the envelope angers him so much that a powerful wind-blasted Paul away.
CRASH!
Paul got sent crashing to the training ground wall creating a crater on it, he was helpless under the violent wind bursting from Wesley’s body, “Call Sebrof…”
“After my fight, Rex Silverstar will be erased from this world!”
~
The next day, something weird happened.
Adhara is already ready to train, she’s already training using the Bifrons Duality Daggers.
Upon being a Dual Elementalist, Adhara right now can finally wield the Bifrons Duality Daggers although one of the daggers is way weaker than the other.
It’s a step though, and Adhara is not complaining.
Just after Adhara got out of her bedroom, she looks around and doesn’t find Kyran anywhere.
Yesterday both of them agree to train again together,
But Kyran who should also train with her today suddenly disappears, she tries to ask Rex but he said to not worry about Kyran and told her to educate Gistella instead.
This is why Adhara went to Gistella to teach her to be normal,
When she was about to go to Gistella, out of nowhere the door is knocked.
Adhara knows who the one knocking is so she just ignores it and went to Gistella instead.
In the last couple of days, Evelyn has been coming to their room a couple of times asking for Rex but Rex told Adhara to make Evelyn go away.
It seems Rex doesn’t want to meet with Evelyn for some reason,
Entering the room where Gistella is in, Adhara stopped in her tracks thinking as she closed the door behind her lightly.
She frowns as she can feel the tension inside the room slowly rising lately,
Without even anyone telling her about the situation, she knows that a huge storm is about to hit and she can feel the cold air of the storm already.