**************
Red City, one month after Grey left for the Lunar Academy.
Martha looked at his room with a sad face, she was about to leave this place and head over to meet her husband, Lucas.
She reminisced about all the times they spent here and couldn't help but sigh in frustration.
"If that moron hadn't gone when they called him, I wouldn't need to leave my little boy behind"
Although she said this, she knew Lucas had to go since it was an important matter.
"I thought we would be able to leave everything behind and just live a peaceful life, seems like fate has something else planned for us. Hopefully Grey will be okay"
After saying this, Martha crushed a small red glowing bead that suddenly appeared out of nowhere in her hand.
Two minutes later, a figure appeared from the void without making any sound. It was like he had always been there.
Plop!
The figure drop on his knees
"Milady, do you have any orders for me?"
Martha looked at the man before her before asking
"I forgot to ask you when you first arrived, how are things over there with that bastard?"
The figure almost choked when he heard Martha calling Lucas a bastard, this was not the first time he had heard Martha calling her husband a bastard, but it had been long since he heard it. He could only smile wryly before replying.
"The bas…"
He froze subconsciously before saying
"Lord's appearance has acted as a deterrent, but we don't know how long this would last. Before I left last month, I heard they're already tired of waiting and are planning a full-on assault on our territory"
Martha snorted coldly before saying angrily
"Hmph, those lowlifes want to benefit from what they didn't work. That secret realm opened in our territory, and we also cleared it. Do they know how many of our people died during the process?"
The figure smiled wryly, he was very familiar with Martha's temper. Although she was a Water Elementalist, her temper was the polar opposite of her element.
"There has been increased contact between them and Yulan Region, there is a high chance they are planning to join hands on the assault"
Martha's anger increased on hearing this and the poor house suffered from it. Most of the furniture in the house started freezing rapidly. But she quickly calmed herself before she completely froze the entire house.
"I'll be going over, it seems like they have forgotten about the last time"
"You will stay here and protect Grey, don't interfere with his daily life only if his life is in danger, should you intervene, but try to do it secretly"
The figure nodded
"Yes Milady"
"What about Chris?"
Martha raised a brow before asking
"What about him?"
"There's something different about him"
When the figure first arrived here, Martha sent him out to obtain information about the higher-ups in the Lunar Academy.
Martha said in disdain when she heard this
"He's a mere Half step Sage Plane Elementalist, what is there to be worried about?"
"Besides, I showed him a little hint of my strength, if he is wise, he should get the message I was trying to convey"
"Although it's surprising to see someone of his caliber in this backwater place, it's not impossible. Besides, Lucas and I also came here to spend the rest of our lives peacefully. If not for Lucas asking for their help which they couldn't even offer, there was no way they would have been able to find us"
Martha said.
The figure knew she was right he didn't even know a place like this existed if not for Lucas giving him the coordinates when Martha asked for him.
Martha disappeared from sight after giving her final orders to the figure. He was someone they trusted, so she knew Grey's life was in safe hands. Just like Martha, the figure also disappeared.
**************
Present-day, Capital City
"Grey wins"
Grey looked at his opponent who was currently lying unconscious on the platform, he didn't feel bad about how badly he beat him up since he knew his opponent also had the same thoughts towards him.
During the first round, a student from the Lunar Academy was almost beaten to death by a student from the Starlight Academy, luckily, the man in charge stopped the battle quickly. But it didn't change the fact that the student was almost crippled by his opponent.
The students from the Lunar Academy were sent into an uproar because of this and a brawl nearly happened between them and the Starlight Academy. They all wanted to get revenge, so when Grey was given the opportunity, he didn't miss it.
He was a student of the Lunar Academy, so even if he didn't want to get involved, he didn't have a choice in this since his opponent would not hold back.
The students and the instructors from the Lunar Academy all nodded their heads in approval of what Grey did. While the students and the instructors from the Starlight Academy all threw death stares at him.
Grey was completely oblivious to the death stares he was getting from the students and also the instructors of the Starlight Academy while he walked towards his seats. Since Grey was the first student from the Lunar Academy to dare to beat one of their students this badly, he was automatically placed at the top of their must-kill list. Well, this was not the only reason for that.
The crowd already knew the conflict between both Academies would continue in the competition, so they weren't surprised by what was going on, some were even enjoying it since the battles between the students are more brutal.
With this victory, Grey had secured a place in the special training the empire spoke about. Alice qualified after having an epic battle with a student from the Wellen Academy who was at the Ninth stage of the Arcane Plane just like herself.
Klaus and Reynolds also went on to win their battles in the second round, securing themselves a spot at the training also. After the second round ended, the Lunar Academy had the most students who qualified for the third round with sixteen students. The Starlight Academy only had fifteen.
The shocking part of it all was the fact that of the sixteen students who qualified from the Lunar Academy, eight of them were Dual Elementalists. It was a large number compared to the other Academies, from this the crowd already deduced the winner of the competition this year will most likely be the Lunar Academy.
The students were all given a three days break after the second round ended.
***************
Later that night in the Starlight Academy residence.
"We need to think of a plan, the number of Dual Elementalists present in their ranks is terrifying. If they are all allowed to grow, it will spell catastrophe for us"
"I also heard of a summoner appearing in their ranks also. You should all be clear about their strengths"
The upper echelon of the Starlight Academy was currently holding a meeting. The appearance of so many Dual Elementalists in the Lunar Academy was a threat to them. Added with the fact that a summoner was also among the students. If they had no qualms with the Lunar Academy, they wouldn't be worried, but they had always been at loggerheads with them.
"Enough!"
A deep voice said.
On hearing the voice, they all quietened down and looked in the direction of the speaker.
"You all know how we usually solve our problems"
The speaker spoke in a cold voice while looking at the people present in the room. A glint flashed past his eyes before saying.
"By making them disappear"
The others all nodded in compliance when they heard this.
"I've already sent someone to investigate the backgrounds of all the Dual Elementalists present at the competition and also the summoner"
"For now, our main target is a student called Grey. He's a Dual Elementalists who is at the Seventh stage of the Arcane Plane and I regard him as our greatest threat"
When the others all heard of Grey's cultivation stage, they were puzzled why their leader placed a student at the Seventh stage as the main target.
"I understand you're all puzzled by my decision, but after Clayton explains, you'll all understand"
A man stepped forward after the leader finished speaking.
"Grey is born in a little city called Red City, the major there is just at the Second stage of the Arcane Plane. When he turned twelve, he took the test but failed to awaken his element. He took the test again when he was already sixteen, that was when he was able to awaken his element, he was surprisingly a Dual Elementalist with the Lightning element as his base element"
"Grey is currently seventeen years old, and he has already advanced to the Seventh stage of the Arcane Plane. You should all remember that he only awakened his elements by the age of sixteen, this means he went from a normal person with no cultivation, to someone who is already stronger than his major within just over a year and six months"
"This is the fastest speed I have ever seen and even the fastest speed recorded in the history of the continent"
When the others all heard the explanation, they couldn't help but suck in a cold breath. Given the current speed Grey was advancing, it would take at most three to five years for him to catch up, added to the fact that he would go into the trial grounds, it might even be shorter as long as he didn't die in there.
Grey was like a ticking time bomb for them, from his performance at the competition, they could all see he was already a full part of the Lunar Academy, hence the grudge with them was also part of him.
A cold glint all passed through their eyes,
"We must get rid of him"
"And we will, the second reason I placed him first in the list is the fact that among all the Dual Elementalists, he is the only one who doesn't have a strong background, which means, he wouldn't have anyone protecting him as the others do"
They all approved of their leader's plan, this was not the first time they had done something like this in the Capital City. As long as they could corner Grey in a hidden place, it would be over. Of course, they wouldn't be going alone, they had people just for jobs like this.
"Inform the Black Hand, they will know what to do"
