Inside an old tavern with rustic wooden furniture, dimly lit by warm candlelight. The air was filled with the aroma of hearty food and the sound of chatter.
Among the crowd of many elves, a hooded man sat in a corner quietly sipping on his drink with a nonchalant face.
He gazed at the elves with a tipsy expression and a few strands of cyan hair peeked out from his hoodie.
'Tsk, I want to experiment on an elf but I can't stay here.'
Aoky grumbled inwardly and while he was sitting without any care the chatter in the tavern died down and silence enveloped the place.
He frowned and turned to look around for the reason.
'What happened?'
Aoky narrow eyes swept past the quiet elves and he noticed they were all looking at him. No, to be more precise they were looking above him.
A knock on the table jolted him awake and he stupidly looked in front of himself.
A brown-haired middle-aged man clad in a long-sleeved black robe stood in front of his table with a dark expression.
Aoky tensed up and his drunk mind cleared up a little when he wasn't able to sense the man's aura.
"Who are you?"
His voice sounded nervous and inwardly he was planning to flee.
Han scoffed at his behavior and gazed down at him.
'It took me a whole day just to enter this city, the security around the elf's border was too tight. Now, after so much struggle the only thing I found was a drunk man?'
He stepped forward and Aoky jumped out from his chair frightened but to his surprise instead of him the man grabbed the bag hanging on his chair.
"This... This bag is mine! Who the hell are you?"
Aoky stumbled and hurriedly tried to grab the bag but the brown-haired man shot him a glare.
After a few seconds, a storage ring flew out from the bag and Han looked at Aoky with a deadpan expression.
"Why is it with you?"
Aoky started sweating as he recalled how he had just casually grabbed the storage rings without checking their origin.
'Don't tell me it's belonged to those kids? Oh no, I am funked! Who the heck is this man? Is he from the Royal Academy?'
His mind went into overdrive but slowly he started to step backward while grumbling whatever appeared in his mind.
"Of course it's mine! What the hell are you doing? Do you want to steal my stuff?"
Han didn't even listen to his excuses and kicked his stomach. Aoky felt like the air left his stomach all at once and he flew backward, crashing into the tavern wall.
The elves around them gasped with shock and panic. It wasn't rare to see a human in the elf's Kingdom but they didn't expect the human would fight in their territory.
Han sighed and pinched his brows with a serious expression. He didn't want to resort to violence but his opponent wasn't weak that's why it was better if he attacked first.
"I am taking this man. Please continue eating your food."
He grabbed the bag and dragged Aoky's body outside. After tying Aoky hands and feet he hurriedly found a Teleportation Array nearby and left.
Han traveled for another day with an anxious expression. On his way, he checked Aoky's belongings and a huge frown appeared on his face because he saw chains and some strange experimental tools. He even threatened the cyan-hair man to spill everything but Aoky stayed silent.
'I swear I am going to torture him very badly just let me reach the Academy.'
With a frustrated expression, he directly landed inside the Academy.
The moment he arrived, two familiar old men flew out from a building and headed straight toward him.
"Han?"
Ratric landed in front of him. Han nodded and tossed Aoky under his feet with a serious expression.
"Now tell me what happened to the kids?"
Ratric sighed and an old man appeared behind him.
"Alright I will, who is this?"
"I don't know, he had Kyle's storage rings."
Anger flashed through Ratric eyes as he looked back at the old man.
"I think he is among those individuals who kidnapped the kids. Levi dragged him to the investigation chamber. I want all the information regarding the ones who dare to attack my people."
With a nod, Elder Levi left with Aoky who cried out in panic. On the other hand, Han's expression froze when he heard the word 'Kidnapped'.
He looked at the principal with a face that wanted an explanation. Ratric sighed and started walking.
"Follow me."
Han nodded and followed behind him. While walking, the Principal told him everything. The more Han listened the more angry his expression became. In the end, he cursed.
Ratric gazes back at him.
"Don't worry the little beast is safe. Geroge and Elaze are looking around for Kyle but even after searching the whole forest they weren't able to find any clue."
Han took a deep breath and calmed down.
"If the life-saving Artifact I left for him was activated that means Kyle was heavily injured. The Artifact is good but it can't teleport him very far from his actual location."
Han pondered for a minute and turned around to look at the Principal.
"I will go and look for him as well."
Ratric nodded but then a frown appeared on his face.
"You only have a week. Afterward, you need to go back to the Central Continent. They are already enlarged due to your sudden disappearance. It's not that they don't have Array masters, they just want to find faults so they have an excuse to withdraw when the monster lords attacked."
An angry vein emerged on Han's forehead.
"Those bastards! Agh, I don't want to go but I know the consequences of my actions. Don't worry I will go back if I don't find that Kid."
Han flipped his sleeves ready to fly when Ratric stopped him.
"Give me the storage rings. Alec requested me to find his sword. I will return the rings to the kids."
