?Bia's breathing turned ragged but she was not even able to land a single attack on Kyle. It was very infuriating.
Kyle chuckled at her expression and shook his head. He raised his hand and tapped his shoulder with a smile.
"Come here."
Contrary to the onlookers' expectations, after Kyle's gesture, the furious phoenix decreased her size and climbed his shoulder obediently.
Kyle grabbed the little phoenix and gazed at her from all directions with a grin.
"(B-)-Rank? Not bad, you did a good job."
Bia hurrumped and rolled her eyes. How she wished to beat him a little but the difference in their strength was just too much.
-'I am not lazy like you. Okay! Also, I haven't forgiven you yet!'
Kyle placed the grumpy little phoenix on his shoulder and looked down at the small crowd below him. The moment his eyes traveled down, for some reason everyone looked away in different directions.
He raised his eyebrow. They were probably enjoying the view earlier, but now they were pretending as if they hadn't seen a thing.
With narrowed eyes, Kyle dived down and landed in front of the crowd. His gaze traveled from Nine to Jian.
'Oh, they had gotten stronger...'
Finally, his eyes stopped on Yue. She was standing behind everyone else with Sia. He couldn't help but blink with surprise. The aura around her was quite violent very different from the one he remembered. Also, how did she jump from (C-)-Rank to (C+)-Rank in such a short time?
A barely visible frown appeared between his brows. Alec, Nine, Jian, and Carcel approached him to ask about what he was going to do next. However, his mind was occupied in another place.
'Bia, what happened to Yue?'
Bia hummed softly. She made herself comfortable on his shoulder and gazed at Yue with thoughtful eyes.
-'I don't know...'
She paused for a few seconds and recalled the time when she was alone with Yue.
-'I am not sure but I think her body is a little special.'
'Special?'
-'Ugh.. how should I describe it? It's like she can consume a lot of things without any consequences.'
'Things? You mean food?'
-'No no.. not food. She can absorb the aura around the treasures without directly eating or wielding them, but I believe she can't absorb a large amount at once. Her rank jumped from (C-)-Rank to (C+)-Rank after we stepped into the treasure room.'
Kyle's frown deepened.
'Did it harm her body?'
-'I don't think so. Or else I would have noticed.'
Suddenly, Nine glanced at Kyle's face. He narrowed his eyes because Kyle was not focused at all. That's why he stopped and lightly smacked his back.
Kyle hissed and glared at him.
"What was that for?"
Nine raised his brow.
"Are you even listening?"
Kyle's expression hardened as he noticed, Alec, Jian, and Carcel's eyes on him.
"Of course, I am."
Nine rolled his sleeves with a nod.
"And what did you hear? Can not care to explain."
Kyle was thick-skinned. Even though he did not hear what they were talking about. He replied confidently.
"Of course, you are talking about how we should take care of the dark race?"
Instantly, everyone looked at him with speechless eyes. They were clearly talking about what they were going to do next. Where the hell did the dark race come from? However, before they could plummet his confidence, Kyle wore a grim expression and gazed into the distance.
"I can sense Emion, he is quite far. How about we take out all the weaker people from the dark race? If everyone worked in teams I believe we can do it."
His suggestion immediately diverted everyone's attention. It was indeed possible. However, the problem was, what if Emion caught them while they were hunting his people? Among the dark race, Emion was the most formidable. If they could somehow deal with him, then the rest would be manageable.
As if noticing their worries, Kyle cracked his knuckles with a smile that did not reach his eyes.
"I will make sure Emion stays busy. Even though he is stronger than me. I believe I can attract his attention for a long time."
Kyle almost tripped when Nine smacked him again with a laugh. He so badly wanted to return the smack but controlled the urge.
Alec tightened his hold on his sword and pointed it toward the sky.
"Then, what are we waiting for? Let's go!"
All of them gathered together and split up into three big teams. Nine and Jian took charge of the first team, Alec led the second team, and Carcel became the head of the third team.
Kyle nodded at Alec and the others with a serious expression before he held out his hand in front of Carcel. The young prince was confused as he gazed at his hand.
"What?"
"The spear?"
"Oh?"
Carcel grazed the tip of the ordinary-looking blue spear. It was actually better than his own. After a few seconds, instead of giving back the spear, he stared at Kyle with a polite smile.
"How about we trade?"
Kyle raised his brow and rubbed his hands, ready to rob the prince. However, his plan failed when Nine smacked him again with a chuckle.
"What's there to trade between friends? Right, Kyle?"
Nine light golden eyes sparkled with mirth as he stared at him deeply. Kyle groaned and slapped his hand away. This time, he returned the smack with double strength and replied with a hint of reluctance.
"Of course. You can take it for free after all we are 'friends'."
The smile on Nine's face stiffened. Kyle's smack almost made him lose his balance. He rubbed his aching back with a pained expression and ran off to Elli for comfort. Bullying Kyle was really hard!
Alec glanced at Nine, who was rubbing his head on Elli's shoulder. He let out a bittersweet smile and started walking. Behind him, Carcel and the others also began to move.
Kyle jumped and flew across the sky. He followed behind the small crowd and after a minute they reached the base borders.
While everyone was jumping off the walls. Suddenly, Yue waved at him. She was on Nine and Jian's team.
Albeit confused, Kyle dived down and landed in front of her.
"What happened?"
Her eyes fell on Kyle for a few seconds before she averted her gaze to look at Bia. Yue held out her hand and tapped Bia's head with a sweet smile.
"It's just, while we were in the field Bia was pretty upset. I believe she was worried about you. So, you should not leave her alone."
Kyle stared at the beautiful hand caressing Bia's head. Subconsciously his eye trailed off toward her face. They were standing too close. So close that he could faintly hear the sound of her breathing and heartbeat. For some reason, her heart rate was higher than normal. Maybe, it was due to the violent aura around her body.
"Are you sure Bia was worried? Don't forget how she attacked me the moment she saw me-!"
His sentence was cut off when Bia pecked on his shoulder with an angry hiss.
-'I was worried, Okay! Do I need to spell it out for you?'
With a cold hum, she looked away from Kyel and leaned into Yue's hand for more comfortable pats.
Yue let out a soft laugh at her actions. She slowly lifted her eyes to glance at Kyle. Only to find out that he was staring directly at her. Her heart skipped a beat and she immediately stepped back to maintain the distance.
"Also, Bia is a very picky eater please take care of her diet."
Kyle whipped his head toward the little phoenix. The very same phoenix who could eat anything as long as it was edible.
'Picky eater? What the hell did you do?'
Bia blinked at him innocently.
-'Recently I developed a tiny habit. I can not eat if the food is not delicious enough. Also, I need three proper meals a day ahh!'
Bia cried out in surprise when Kyle picked up her body and stared at Yue blankly.
"I believe it's better if you took this glutton with you!"
Yue let out a huff and wrapped her hands on her chest with a raised brow.
"Did you forget what I said? You should not leave her alone. She gets worried."
Kyle sucked in a huge breath. How the hell was he going to feed this phoenix? He groaned and placed Bia back on his shoulder.
"Okay, you should leave. Everyone is ..."
He dragged his sentence and narrowed his eyes to gaze at the heads peeking from behind the walls.
"...waiting."
Yue replied with a nod and walked away. Her voice was barely a whisper but Kyle heard it clearly.
"Goodbye, take care."
He gazed at her back and unlike Yue's faint voice Kyle's voice was loud as he jumped off the ground to soar into the sky.
"Take care as well."
In the distance, the few curious heads peeking from behind the wall immediately snapped back when Kyle stared at them. Jian narrowed his eyes and whispered to Nine and Alec.
"Bro, what were they talking about?"
Alec rubbed his nose with a curious expression.
"My question is when did Kyle start speaking to girls so normally? Usually, he is not even responsive toward Mia and Lara!"
A mischievous smile spread across Nine's face but before he could make a comment, Kyle's figure appeared in front of the trio and they jumped back in fright.
Nine cried out.
"At least make a noise!"
Kyle ignored his cry and gazed at the sky.
"I am leaving, you should go as well. The sooner we finish this, the better."
With a nod, the trio scattered in different directions with their team members. Kyle flew across the sky. He immediately activated his skill scent perception.
Hundreds of different scents flooded his nose but he only grasped on the familiar revolting scent. It was coming from the west side.
"A little far but we can reach him within a few hours."
