"No." Athan replied.
"Hmm, okay." Grey nodded.
'Where did you go to?' Grey looked at the place he used to stay with a complex emotion.
It has been over two years now, yet he hadn't heard anything from his mother. This was exactly how his father left, now it was his mother's turn. He could accept losing his father, but he couldn't take it if he lost his mother.
"I'll be going now, make sure to take care of yourself." Grey smiled softly to Athan.
"I will come find you at the Lunar Academy." Athan said.
Grey chuckled but didn't say anything, he knew the chances of Athan joining the Lunar Academy was slim. Athan needed to have at least a purple elemental grade to be accepted into the Lunar Academy. But he couldn't discourage him, so he could only smile to him.
"I'll be waiting for you." He turned around to walk over to the others who were standing on the pavement at the side of the road.
"Hey guys, there's nothing about my mom here. We should head back to the Academy, there's no use staying here any further." Grey said to the others.
They headed to the city gate, Grey didn't forget to say goodbye to Athan before leaving.
"Which way?" Klaus asked immediately after the group walked past the gate.
"That way, I think." Grey pointed to the north with uncertainty.
They didn't have a map, and Grey who had traveled from here to the Academy didn't know the way. When he left for the Academy, he was carried by Brown. When he came here as well, Brown brought him here, and he could barely see, much less seeing the route they took.
Reynolds went over to ask one of the guards at the gate which way led to the Lunar Academy. The distance from here to the Lunar Academy wasn't by any means close, so the guard only pointed them in the general direction he could recall.
"It's already dark. Why don't we go back to the city?" Alice suggested.
When they came here, it was already almost sunset. But after they spent some time in the city, it was already dark.
Thinking of the possible dangers, Grey and the others agreed to Alice's suggestion. They went back into the city, heading straight for an inn.
The next morning, the group woke up feeling energized and started their journey to the Lunar Academy. This was the first time Grey would be personally going to the Lunar Academy from Red City, and he wasn't excited at all.
"How come we are unable to get a horse in your city?" Klaus asked sourly.
The thought of walking to the Lunar Academy was not something he could accept. He had been walking for so long in the trial land, and now that he left the trial land, he didn't want to walk for a long distance anymore.
"I've never really thought of it." Grey shrugged.
The only time he has left Red City was when Chris took him to the Academy, so he never really had any use for horses.
"Rey, you'll have to carry me." Klaus looked at Reynolds.
"In your dreams." Reynolds didn't even bother to look at him.
"Grey." Klaus looked at Grey hoping he would agree to carry him.
"I'll break your legs." Grey replied.
"Al..." Klaus didn't dare to complete his statement when he saw the look Alice gave him.
If he were to accidentally call her name, then she would most likely beat him up.
"We'll get a horse in the next city." He said.
The trio who were currently ahead of him didn't answer him.
The group walked along the path with Klaus complaining as they walked.
______
In a forest not far from Red City.
A group of ten men who were dressed in black were closely watching the group as they started their journey.
"How come they managed to get here?" One of the men asked.
"I'm not sure, but looks like the other group missed them." Another one replied.
"They are only kids, according to the reports, only the one in the Fifth stage is a treat, the others aren't much of a challenge given our stages." A third guy said.
"Hmph! We should kill them now. The ladies at the tavern are still waiting for me, we've been here for three days now." A burly guy said with lust in his eyes.
"No, we need to make sure they're all alone." The fifth guy said.
They all stood in the forest looking at the group as they disappeared into the horizon.
"Let's go, we'll kill them once there's no one near." The fifth guy said.
Just as they were about to follow the group, a man appeared before them, making them unconsciously retreat.
"Who are you?" The burly guy asked after taking a step back.
"Death." The man said.
He was the man Grey's mother left to protect him. When Grey went into the trial land, he couldn't get in, even after trying on multiple occasions, he still couldn't go in. He almost fainted from fright. If anything happened to Grey while he was inside, he knew Martha would kill him.
She wouldn't even want to know why he was unable to save her son, she'd kill him instantly. He waited outside for the entire time Grey spent in the trial land, whenever the array lit up, he would always look at who was exiting it.
When he saw Grey come out, he was exhilarated. He didn't except Grey to be sneak attacked by the leader of the guards from the Azure empire, but Grey's performance impressed him. He felt Grey's improvement during the time he spent in the trail land was massive. After all, Grey's reaction speed wasn't something others his age had.
Void's appearance also surprised him, he knew of the space element, so he wasn't too surprised about it using it. He only found Void's appearance strange.
He was the one who made sure Grey and his friends traveled here safely, and he planned on making sure they didn't face any problems from people until they got to the Lunar Academy.
