Clarisa lifted her foot and stomped on him, causing the spines to dig deeper into his flesh. Aren merely grunted and endured it. "So what? You've decided to stop trying? How much more pathetic do you want to be?" she spat, shifting more weight.

"Gah! What the hell do you want from me?! I was fighting, wasn't I!?" Aren snapped.

Clarisa wanted to torture her brother some more, but someone else's presence interrupted her.

"Huhahaha! Look, Karaboshi! The little people are playing!" a roaring laugh rang out.

"Don't mind them, Brack," another man said, sighing softly, appearing tired.

Clarissa straightened up and looked in the direction the voices came from. The thorns that had hugged Aren disappeared, and her Spirit Beast returned to the tattoo on her back.

Aren rolled onto his back and sat up. His body was covered in bloody welts and a few more serious wounds, and his clothes were torn as well. But he was coping well; he had endured worse injuries from his fight with Clarisa. He should be grateful to those men for showing up and stopping this.

Aren looked at them.

The man who was speaking loudly was a big, muscular guy, standing at about six feet tall. His clothes was a linen shirt, jacket, and trousers which didn't fit him well, straining against his muscles as if they might burst at any moment.

He had bright yellow eyes and wild white hair, along with a short white beard. When he laughed, his wide-open mouth revealed slightly sharper canines.

The other, calmer man was much more polished.

He was slim, clad in a black tight-fitting shirt topped by a black and white sweatshirt, paired with black pants and white shoes, all perfectly coordinated. His skin was pale, and he wore dark sunglasses over his eyes. His hair, like his attire, was black with white highlights.

Clarisa frowned at them. "Who are you? Are you part of the Stragos family?" she asked.

Brack looked at her and roared with laughter again. "Huhaha! She said the Stragos family! Huha huha! No, kid. We don't really belong to them."

Clarisa frowned and lifted her chin haughtily. "Kid? Is it just muscle in your brain that prevents you from recognizing who you're speaking to? Take a good look and try to guess twice!"

Aren rolled his eyes upon hearing her and began to tend to his more severe injuries. He wasn't sure if Clarisa would continue or be deterred by the newcomers.

The handsome man glanced at Clarisa, who remained entirely indifferent to his looks, and subtly adjusted his position to gain better exposure.

"A child in the body of a woman. Women should be much more chaste and not expose themselves like meat for sale. You still have much to learn," Karaboshi commented, causing Clarisa to cringe.

"Huhaha! A little person trying to impress Karaboshi! How amusing!" Brack laughed and slapped his muscular thighs.

Karaboshi sighed and turned away. "Let's go, Brack. We have work to do."

"Nah! Why bother? We have everything we need right here," Brack protested, turning to follow the smaller man.

"Too close," Karaboshi replied.

Clarisa was pale with rage and glared at the two as they headed off. But she still had enough sense not to attack random people. Instead, she turned her gaze towards Aren, who flinched.

"W-wait! Guys, can I come with you?" he called quickly to the men.

Brack stopped and looked back at him in surprise, while Karaboshi also glanced back but didn't stop. "Huha! The little guy wants to come with us? Okay!" Brack agreed amusedly, and Karaboshi didn't object.

Aren stood up, walking a little limply after them. "Aren," Clarisa spoke warningly, but he didn't hesitate and hurried after them.

Clarisa frowned and then glanced at the van where Miri was engrossed in her work. She snorted and started to walk away.

In the van, Miri was studying the data on her tablet and biting her thumbnail. "Where did it go? Where? Again, a large presence of spiritual energy in the basement, but then it disappeared. Spooky. Can you go more in-depth?" she asked.

Spirit shook his head at the computer. "No. I've even tried bypassing it, but nothing. Estimating, we'd have to be right in that basement to do anything more."

Miri looked up and blinked when she realized the parking lot was empty again. All that remained was damaged asphalt and a few bloodstains. She glanced towards the mansion and pursed her lips. "We have to get past that barrier somehow."

Spooky turned in his chair and looked at Miri. "It's not safe, boss. As decent as the High Spirit looks, we can't bet on it."

Miri bit her fingernail again. "But we can't wait until the trials are over. We wouldn't know anything anymore. But maybe we could if we ask for help from an expert."

City - Yunos

Aren followed the two men, who hadn't spoken in a while. Occasionally, he looked back and saw that Clarisa wasn't following them, sighing in relief. Today, he had escaped.

Karaboshi glanced back at him discreetly, then looked reproachfully at Brack. "Was that necessary?" he asked quietly.

Brack, not one to speak softly, sounded at a normal volume when he tried to do so. "Don't be jealous. The General took a liking to him, so what if we help the little kid out?"

Aren heard Brack but didn't understand what he was saying. "Where are we going?" he asked instead.

"Huha! You still want to come with us? I thought you just wanted a way out!" Brack laughed.

Karaboshi let out a short disdainful snort. "Can you still call yourself a man if you let yourself be beaten by a woman?"

Aren sensed that Karaboshi wasn't happy with him for some reason, but they were helping him, so Aren didn't take his words to heart. "Woman or not. If she's stronger, nothing can be done," he shrugged.

Brack slowed down and walked beside Aren, then grabbed his arm, lifting it and squeezing the muscles. "No wonder you lost! Where did you leave the muscles? Huha! You're as fragile as a maiden!"

Aren snatched his arm away and frowned. "Not everyone can be built like you."

"Maybe if you ate a whole pig like him every day, you'd make it," Karaboshi commented from the front.

Brack giggled again at the people on the street looking back at them. Then he suddenly fell silent and poked Aren in the arm. "Your biggest problem is that you have a weak Spirit Beast. Why did you even make contracts with such losers?"

Aren groaned. "This really is the best I could get! Only Spirit Beasts of a similar type have answered my calls."

Karaboshi stopped now and turned to look at them. "Impossible," he said seriously.

They all stopped, and Brack looked Aren over before grinning. "I forget you still know so little."

Aren looked from one to the other. "What, what are you talking about?"

"Someone did it on purpose," Karaboshi said.

"Huh?" Aren didn't understand.

"Little kid," Brack said, grinning in amusement. "A weak bloodline may only attract weak Spirit Beasts, but someone with a strong bloodline is guaranteed to have better and stronger seedlings. Your blood, not bad at all." Brack poked Aren hard in the chest until he took a step back.

"It's unlikely it's just these weak wimps trying to get to you," Brack continued.

Aren hesitated. "Okay? But what does that mean?"

Karaboshi sighed. "I don't understand what she sees in you. It means someone blocked the access of the stronger Spirit Beasts to make a deal with you."

Aren bulged his eyes in surprise. "Is that possible?"

Brack laughed roughly and slapped Aren merrily on the back, nearly sending him to the ground. "Why couldn't it? You think Spirit Beasts don't have access back to the Spirit World after the contract? For a Spiritualist to send his powerful Spirit Beast to block you isn't impossible!"

Aren's chin dropped as he heard that and began to think. Why would someone do that? If that was the case, it had to be someone who knew that the academy was in the process of making contracts. So it could have been anyone from the Academy.

The Stragos family? It was possible. But actually, Aren was more suspicious of his eldest brother, Hellio. He was someone who would be capable of this. As Aren thought about it, it became more and more likely! All men Aren's age and younger had bad potential. And Hellio was a sneaky man who guarded his position as the firstborn and future leader of the family. Did he restrict all his competition like that?

Aren looked up and was a little startled as Karaboshi and Brack stared at him from close range, their faces suddenly appearing rather frightening. Brack looked wild and excited, while Karaboshi looked rather cold and interested.

"You want revenge?" Brack asked eagerly.

"We can help you with that," Karaboshi added before exchanging a look with Brack and nodding in agreement.

Whoever did this to Aren was certainly capable. And for Karaboshi and Brack, he was perfect.

Aren clenched his fists, grappling with the notion of revenge. Of course, he wanted it. He wanted retribution against every member of his family. But realistically, could he? He knew his limits.

He glanced at the two men before him and sighed, waving his hand dismissively. "Forget it. There's no way to get revenge."

Brack straightened, clicking his tongue in displeasure. "You think we can't do it?"

"It... no... only my family has the power and status. It would be unpleasant if you were targeted," Aren explained.

"Huha! Are you worried about us? Adorable!" Brack roared with laughter again.

Karaboshi remained composed. "You don't have to worry about that. As long as you don't mind that person disappearing, everything's fine."

Aren hesitated, his gaze shifting between them. "Ehm. Who are you guys? Some kind of assassins?"

Brack, still struggling to contain his laughter, deferred to Karaboshi. "Not exactly. But you can think of it that way. So?"

Aren hesitated, contemplating how much simpler his life would be if Hellio disappeared. "Okay," he agreed.