*Lei*

Kadriya stopped and drew out a reddish-pink crystal from the left pocket of his jeans. "Hello? May I be of assistance? What?" he snapped. His face became drained of color.

"Is something the matter?" I asked as my other teammates joined Adela and I on the field.

The King of Miha spun around. "I'm sorry kids, it appears that I won't be able to battle you today. There's something which I have to look into. Yeung, take the kids someplace safe and don't come out until I've contacted you that all is clear.

"Wait, what's going on?" Eien said, alarmed by Kadriya's words.

The red-haired man lowered his head. "Abyssmal beings have been spotted on the border with Sera as well as other suspicious activity."

"Abyssmal beings?" Adela said. She curled her hands into fists. "No..."

"Seems that the scouts failed to eradicate all of them," Iah said, sighing. "Let us accompany you."

"Yeah," Nyima said. "As heir of the Taiyang Clan, it is my duty to combat these dark invaders."

Kadriya shook his head. "We are not sure as to how strong these beings can be. One of your own already got consumed by one, and several students from your school died in the attempt to eradicate them from these lands. I do not wish to put you children in any more danger than you have already faced."

I grimaced, recalling my ineptitude in killing the big cat abysmal which had swallowed me. "Those things are back?"

Nyima rubbed her chin in contemplation. "Wonder if that man with the fox mask is involved in this."

"Man with a fox mask?" I asked. I recalled the man who caused all of this mess by destroying the ruins at Nine Petal Academy. If it hadn't been for him then not only would our start at Nine Petal have been better, several of our fellow peers would still be alive! That man had too much blood on his hands, I had at least taken solace with the fact he was dead..

Nyima sighed, averting her eyes. "I planned to tell you this afterwards, but yes, it's the same man who began all this. 'Kitsune'. Ayawamat's cousin, Tahoma, told your older brother, the others, and me about how he encountered that man after Lucette had been pulled into the Abyss. We believe that the destruction of the ruins was not an error, that man is tied to those creatures one way or another. It's possible that it was all a ploy to get Lucette..."

"Lucette?" Iah snapped. "Why her? What does she possess that those being would go into all of this trouble to absorb her into their world?"

"So this was all caused for a teenage girl. There's something deeper here. I'll go see if I can gather anything from those spotted being," Kadriya said, rushing off in a ball of flame.

"Take care, dad!" Koal shouted.

I sighed. "What's going on anymore?"

Eien chuckled as he walked away.

"Where are you going?" Lady Yeung shouted.

The young prince smiled at her. "I am going to go check up on something. Take care!"

"You're staying right here! Kadriya told me to care for all of you."

Eien shot her a deadly glare. "I take orders from no one, not even my own parents."

Lady Yeung averted her eyes.

"That's no way to talk to a lady, especially one as kind as Lady Yeung!" Iah snapped, dashing after him. "I thought that you had changed from the old Eien we met on the boat, but it seems you are the same."

Eien chuckled but said nothing else as his body dissolved into flames. "See ya, Crown Prince of Mina."

"That guy!" Iah yelled, punching the air. "He thinks he can treat others like trash. One day I'll show him a lesson."

I nodded. "Same here"

Nyima scoffed. "I think that all of us would like nothing more than to show Ayawamat and that guy off."

Adela nodded. "Yes. Those two are cut from the same exact cloth."

"You four, help me carry the children. I'll heal them in the basement. Kadriya will care for the abyssmals, but we got no idea about the other suspicious stuff."

"Why is he acting jittery? Does Kadriya have a past with the abyssmals?" Iah asked.

Lady Yeung sighed. "I suspect it's not them, but the 'suspicious activity' he's really concerned about." She glanced down at the child she carried in her arms, Yomei.

***

*3rd*

[Few minutes later]

Kadriya ran through plains covered in thick layers of golden grass at breaktaking speeds.

A man in a red cloak wearing red earring in the shape of a sun, could it be him? That traitor?

The King of Miha stopped as a blue flare eclipsed the sun. "Those flames..." He charged toward the source which was only a mile away.

It has to be him, there's only one person who can make such flames. That bastard dares enter this deep into Mihan territory after what he did? I'll teach him a severe lesson for his bluntness and naive pride.

The blue flames died out. "Got it," Kadriya heard someone say. He saw a man in a red cloak pick up a red crystal from the ground. "This should be the last one. Sadly none of these are as strong as the being who appeared in the Mahoulympics years ago."

"Stop right there!' Kadriya yelled, summoning red flames. He shot golf ball sized fireballs, each one moving at the speed of bullets. The man waved a hand over the balls, blocking them.

"Attacking a stranger? That doesn't seem very kingly of you, King Kadriya," the man said.

Kadriya grunted. Flames exploded across his body. Their color shifted from red to black with a red glow. "I wish you were a stranger!" He unleashed wave after wave of black flames upon the strange man.

The man continued to hold out his hand, blocking each attack. "How dull, even after all these years you have not changed."

"Shut up!" Kadriya screamed. Dark tendrils appearing below his feet. They leapt out of the ground and broke through the blue firewall.

The man gasped and faded. "Come back here! You're listening to me? Huh, traitor? Too afraid to face me now, huh?"

"I simply got no time for you anymore, little Kadriya. You should be grateful that I allow you to continue to draw breath, again," a disembodied voice echoed across the wide plains.

Kadriya screamed into the heavens. "Damn you! How dare you toy around with me? I'll get you one of these days, you're listening to me? Huh, brother? You're going to die by my hands, and no one else's!"

***

[Deep Underground in the Capital City of Sera]

Four white thrones circling around a giant crystal orb shimmered with light. A lone man dressed in a crimson cloak smiled at the blood red stone in his hands.

Kadriya sure has grown, yet he is still far from reaching my level.

He glanced up as the center of the other three thrones shimmered in various colors.

The man dressed in red smiled at the others. "Good, you're here."

"You've acquired what we desired I take it? Uracil?" all three asked in unison as if they were legion.

Uracil nodded. "Yes, here is one of the cores of those creatures. I also brought back some living samples."

The blue cloaked woman opposite to him nodded, content with his actions. "Very good. We had our doubts about you when you joined us, but it appears your are dependable. We look forward to working with you in the future, Uracil."

The man smiled. "Wait, there's a favor I need to ask of you before you depart. I'll like to try out the resulting serum on a certain someone, to see how it turns out."

The green cloaked man sitting to his left chuckled. "Interested to know as to who this person is, and how it is that you plan to control them. For now we will keep the tests on the minimum. Hopefully these new samples will help us develop on our older generation of such beings."

"You're referring to the children of nearly a decade ago?"

The man in green nodded. "Yes. Though what the briefing you were given left out was that only a handful of children out of the thousands we tested it on survived. Most became monsters or died on the spot, if not both."

Uracil sat up straight. "Really? Hmm, perhaps I should wait until more tests are conducted."

The blue-cloaked woman leaned against the side of her chair. "Perhaps we should consider updating those who did survive."

"What if we lose them?" the yellow cloaked woman to Uracil's right asked.

"Worry not, we have their genetic sample. Should we lose them then we'll simply recreate more," the blue cloaked woman responded, grinning.

Uracil rose from his seat. "I see. Then I shall take my leave. There are matters I need to attend to."

"Wait, before you depart," the green cloaked man said. "How are you handling the princess?"

"Sarah? What of her? Currently she is no obstacle, no matter how much she wishes."

"Still," said the blue cloaked woman, crossing her long fingers together. "It's best that we hedge our bets by shutting that gadfly of a royal Shuian. Her older brother's time is also drawing closer."

"There's something else I wish for you to look into," the yellow cloaked woman spoke up.

"What would that be?"  Uracil asked.

"As governor of Sera, you are the closest one to the rumored boy. The one who is said to have been devoured by one of those umber beings yet miraculously survived. We wish for you to figure out who it is for us to study closely at the upcoming Mahoulympics."

The green cloaked man snickered. "I hope that we can capture him. The idea of dissecting such a being is sumptuous. I desire to see what allowed him to survive. Such a person must truly be incredible."

"Get a hold of yourself, Guanine," the blue cloaked woman said, sighing. "You will be the one leading our delegation at this year's games, so you best prepare the best team you can. We need to show the entire realm of Xeleria what we High Evolutionary Hierarchians can do."

Guanine turned look at her. His grin remained. "Oh, don't worry, Guanine, I have quite the team prepared. I'm certain that you'll be shocked when you see them in action."

The woman closed his eyes. "I trust you won't disappoint then. Rios is the best place to show just how far we've come in the past few decades. If we fail to at least get a majority of the medals then it would be an absolute embarrassment."

**Solar Note: Today (April 7th, 2018) marks 21 months since I first joined Wattpad and posted the first part of Novus Magus. Now that story has 73.5K reads ^_^. I couldn't have done it without the support of you, the fans. Thank you so much for continuing to support me, even if it's from the shadows. I hope that I can continue to provide you folks with enjoyable content :3.**