The black-haired man's smile disappeared when a sweet voice called out to him from behind.
"Ziner? Aren't you going to share it with me?"
He wore a nonchalant expression and turned around to look at the projection floating behind him.
"Tsk, I do all the hard work and you reap the benefits. Anyway, I will send you some when I am done with my experiments."
His voice turned grave for a few seconds.
"Lily, how many times did I tell you don't call out my name? Call me father or dad."
The projection showed a beautiful lady sitting lazily on a small bed. From the projection one could see the scenery around the lady was extremely ordinary. A simple room containing a square-shaped wardrobe, a single bed, and a study table with a chair.
Her long black hair was tied up in a ponytail and her eyes were arched up with a glint.
"Nope, Ziner is better because we both know very well if something happened to one of us the other will run away without looking back."
"Also, who was the one who gave you all the information? Now don't be greedy and share some benefits with me. I have some more information for you. That useless Aster won't tell you anything if you don't give him something in return."
Ziner raised his brow looking at his daughter. Just like her, he didn't care if she died or not but she was indeed useful whenever he needed free information regarding the Academy.
"What news?"
A giggle escaped Lily's mouth as she neared the communication crystal with a grin.
"They found out the coordinates of the Array. George and an Elder ran away the moment they knew the location."
Ziner nodded and waved his hand nonchalantly.
"Even if they found the location, it doesn't matter. After the kids were teleported I changed their location."
Lily's smile faltered as she lay down on the bed.
"Tsk! What a pity you won't die. I am off, I have a class. Make sure to send me some of the potions or else I will release your exact location to the whole Academy."
Her eyes were sharp as a knife when she turned off the communication crystal and stood up from the bed.
"Now that a lot of top students are out of the picture I can participate in the tournament."
There was a reason why she didn't challenge anyone else after Nine kicked her out from the top ten.
"I can only hope Ziner sent me those potions before getting caught."
She tidied up her appearance and left her room with a smile.
On the other hand, Ziner clicked his tongue after the projection disappeared. Not even a minute was passed when his communication device trembled again.
With an irritated expression, he picked up the device but frowned when he saw the caller's face.
A man with messy cyan-colored hair and pitch-black eyes looked at him with a panicked expression.
Ziner saw the panicked man and wondered why the latter called him out of nowhere.
"What happened? Aoky."
Aoky wiped the sweat present on his forehead.
"Boss those kids from the Royal Academy. They ran away!"
His sentence was like a thunderbolt as Ziner's eyes flew open wide. His pupils shrink slightly. Not believing his ears he questioned.
"They what?"
"I just came out from my room. They are all gone!"
Ziner's expression paled slightly.
"Damn it! You all can't even take care of some kids? Find them immediately! They can't go far because we are in the middle of a forest. Hurry up deploy everyone single man! I will check all the passages leading outside."
He shouted with a vein bulging on his forehead. If somehow his hidden location was released he was done for. George and Ratric would tear him apart. Not just him they would destroy everything.
His name was famous because he was a dark mage who had done many experiments on all types of living things. Still, he was one of the (S+)-Rank individuals of the Kingdom that's why the King overlooked his dark work but now that he dared to touch the beloved Royal Academy he knew the risk of his own decision.
"I can't expose myself. I need to find the kids."
With an angry breath, Ziner disappeared from the room. Heading straight toward the passages from where the kids could leave.
....
Meanwhile, after climbing another stairway Kyle stood in front of a large narrow path. His heartbeat quickened because he could sense Bia was nearby.
He walked passing through a few rooms before stopping in front of a black door.
With closed eyes, Kyle placed his hand on the room.
"She is in there."
He spoke with a serious expression and looked at the others.
Professor Oliver's clothes were filled with blood because a few minutes ago they encountered a strong opponent who was (A)-Rank. It took him much more time to take out that man with cautious and minimum noise. Even though the Professor won, he suffered a few injuries and from his ragged breathing, Kyle was sure that Oliver was tired after fighting so many people.
Alec stepped forward and touched the door. He was holding a long blue lance. Not just him almost all the students were holding different weapons. After Oliver killed the enemies they robed their weapons and storage rings.
Alec looked back at everyone with a serious expression.
"Be ready, I believe someone strong is waiting for us behind this door."
Kyle nodded and with another glance at the Professor, he pushed the door open.
With a low creak, the door opened and Kyle's eyes darted around the dimly lit room, looking around for Bia's figure.
Without waiting for the Professor he stepped inside hurriedly with everyone else following behind him.
Kyle's breath hitched when his eyes landed on the table present at the end of the room. He didn't care about the strange tools and glass containers lying around the room and staggered toward the table with red eyes.
"Bia?"
His voice was bearly audible as he fixed his gaze on the metal cage. Mia followed behind him with moist eyes.
The other student's eyes were saddened when they saw Bia's condition. A sigh escaped Oliver's lips as he looked at Kyle's back.
Alec patted Kyle's shoulder with a serious expression.
"I can sense she is breathing."
After hearing Alec's words, Kyle finally released the breath he didn't even know he was holding.
