‘So, today is the day.’ Solaris thought, as he saw the fat military instructor from before, walking in in his training room. He hated that fat fuck, but today that fat pig’s appearance bloomed a smile on his face.

It had been three days since he had revealed the name of Raiden to the old man Juno. And it had been four days since Raiden had gone into hiding. That boy thought that he should go into hiding for now, as he had no way to fight the old man currently, which was a wise choice. According to the boy’s plan, he would only come out when the Devil’s Trap would be delivered to him.

He gave that potion to the boy yesterday, and he came out of hiding. And as Raiden came back to his room yesterday, sure enough, the old man didnt come to train him today. Finally, today was the day that things would go down. Now he just has to make sure that everything is working perfectly as he had planned and that everything will be over today.

He immediately made a mental connection with the boy’s seal and realized that the pathetic fuck was still sleeping. So the old man hadn't made any contact yet. With that, he pushed his thoughts aside and started concentrating on the training at hand…

It was during 8:00 a.m., that he finally felt some fluctuation in his connection with Raiden. While doing sit-ups, he activated the eavesdropping magic on the seals and tried to listen to what was happening with Raiden. The boy was awake for sure, and he could hear that the boy was throwing… a tantrum.

He could hear the sounds of things being thrown here and there, a lot of screaming was involved. And it was then he heard the sound of a blade slashing the air. He deactivated the eavesdropping magic and tried to sense where the boy was, from his calculation, the boy was around 8km to his North. Which was where the dorm of the boy was.

‘So, he is angry for some reason. And he is throwing a tantrum in his dorm room… I think theory number 2 has won. The old man had kidnapped Tamika. And the old bones would have left a very concerning message about her to him.’

[Finally, it has started. What would you do now?]

‘Headache?’

[Not original. What about diarrhea?]

‘Ah, hell no! My lord you know that I dont like using that technique.’

[Fine, suit yourself. I was just worried that someone might say something to you if you missed the training twice, in the same week.] He groaned with frustration, he knew that his lord was playing with him. His lord knew that his overthinking monkey brain would surely fall into his trap. And he was right.

Immediately he started churning his mana in his stomach and stopped doing sit-ups. The fat pig, who was well-behaved and was not spitting at him today, took notice of this.

“What is it, Soldier?” He started becoming pale, and then he pointed towards his stomach. “My…”

It is then his stomach roared like a hungry lion, making the eyes of the pig widen with surprise. He clutched his stomach and answered. “I gotta go.”

And just like that, he ran away from his training room. He went to the nearest toilet, shitted his guts out…

 After sneaking away from the training ground, he thought he would follow Raiden and then that boy would lead him to the old man and Tamika. But his calculation didnt pan out well when he sensed that the boy was making his way towards Training Ground-7. Sensing this, he really questioned the IQ of the boy. 

Raiden knew that even if he were to beg the soldiers, even then the soldiers wouldn't let him in. And as the boy was not a mage, he could not use the communication magic. So why the fuck would he make his way there? Is he retarded?

To lessen his headache, he came to the streets of the Emerald City and started walking casually on the same path on which Raiden would appear. And sure enough, the boy appeared a minute later and came to a stop in front of him.

With heavy breaths, he asked him, “What are you doing here?” He shrugged nonchalantly. “Well, Juno didnt come today, so bunking the training. I wanted to relax for a day…” Before he could complete his monologue, the boy immediately grabbed his collar and started running, dragging him behind him.

“Woah woah… What is it?” he asked while running behind the boy. The boy glanced back, “We gotta problem.” It was then he turned serious as well and started running behind him.

The boy led him straight to the black forest entrance, at the edge of the Emerald City. To protect the city and its land from the dangerous Mana beasts that live in the forest, the administration has erected 15-foot-long walls around the city, and to enter the forest, one needs some sort of documentation from school or some serious coins. With his power he never got the chance to use the gate, he could easily jump over the wall, undetected. But for the first time in his life, he had to go through a security check.

As they got to the gate, a person from the mercenary group in charge of the gate stopped them. He was an old scary-looking mercenary, “Sorry chaps, no one is allowed to go through the gate today. Orders from above,” her ordered, but they had nothing to show him.

Before Raiden could say something, he pushed him aside and brought out a pouch full of coins in his hands. He then gave the coins to the old guard. “You will let us pass, we were never here, and we dont know each other.”

The old man looked baffled. “What do you think you are doing?” he yelled in his old voice, gathering the attention of other guards in the region. They were fortunate enough that there were not many students there at that moment, as it was fairly early in the morning at the time.

He then shoved another pouch in the old man’s hand, making the old man fume with anger. “Do you know what you are doing brat? I can get you expelled from the school for this.”

He wouldn't deny it, he was in a hurry. He wanted this to be over with, as soon as he could. So, he got angry at that moment. He stepped in front of the old man and then answered loud enough so that everyone could hear him, “Listen to me you old fuck. Take the pouches and fuck off. If you dont, and tried to act smart with me. I will beat you shitless. And then I will offer half of the money that you have, to the next guard that will take your place. So keep the coins, and stop wasting my time.”

The old man was taken aback, before the old bones could yell at them more, he shoved the old man aside and started walking in the forest. Raiden silently followed him. He knew what the old man was trying to do, they recognized that they were not the kind of students that come here often, so the old bones wanted to milk them. It was a pretty common practice, lucky for them, he knew about it.

As they made some distance between them and the entrance of the black forest, the boy finally said something. “Thank you for that. I owe one.”

“Fuck yeah, you owe me. That is my saving for the past year.” He then sighed and then looked at the boy seriously. “Care to tell me what this is all about?”

The boy became angry with his questions, “That mother fucker! He kidnapped Tamika.” Acting surprised, he put his hands and his mouth. “No. Why?”

The boy looked more angry, “Why else? He wanted to lure me out.” He acted as if he finally understood what this was all about.

“So where to now?” he asked. It is then Raiden took out a piece of crumpled paper from his pocket, “According to the letter, I am supposed to come to Black Hills alone, as soon as I get this letter,”

He nodded, black hills are not far away from his gate. And as the old man had ordered that no one was allowed to go to the black forest today, there would be no students there. The old man is going for a clean kill…

As they made their way towards the hill, he sensed 4 guys in their vicinity, hiding from them. Raiden didnt sense shit, that boy was still actively looking for clues about the old man or Tamika. As they got closer, suddenly all the four people that he sensed jumped down from their respective hiding places, surrounding them both.

‘Finally! Let's get this over with.’