"So you children must be the ones who fought the Shadow Yaijuu, right?" King Vulnar asked.
They nodded in response, and King Vulnar continued. "Tell me what happened. What did you see? No lies."
Fredrick stepped forward and stood at the front of the group. "As the leader of the team, I can tell you that we were handling the common-rank Yaijuus just fine until a purple portal appeared and Shinra showed up wearing black armor radiating with energy."
"Shinra... that's the boy's name?" King Vulnar asked for confirmation.
Fredrick nodded. "Yes. And before that really happened, Aiden here sensed the portal before any of us did."
Fredrick gestured to Aiden, who walked forward and stood beside him.
"Shinra's aim that day was to kill Aiden," Fredrick said.
"Why?" King Vulnar asked, curious.
"Shinra said Aiden was a Qinsura, and because of that, he needed to die."
King Vulnar's expression remained composed, but he was surprised to hear the word "Qinsura". "Qinsura... I thought the clan was wiped out completely all those years ago," he thought to himself.
King Vulnar's gaze shifted to Aiden, and he asked, "Where is your family they live here don't they?"
Aiden shook his head. "They died in Nara town."
King Vulnar's thoughts turned inward. "So he is the boy who survived the slaughter. If he is the only one, then that means he is the last of the Qinsura clan."
"Sorry for your loss," King Vulnar said, then he looked at Fredrick. "Go on."
Fredrick continued, "As expected, we fought against him. He was trying to kill a member of our team. He was too strong for us to handle, but Aiden and Rhea inflicted a significant amount of damage on Shinra, which gave us time to escape."
"I see. So the boy didn't recover from Rhea and Aiden's attack?" King Vulnar asked.
"According to Arthur, my lord, when he arrived, a woman took Shinra and disappeared using the same portal," Isaac said.
"Do you know the rank of Shinra?" King Vulnar asked.
"Y-yes, my lord. A C-rank," Cedric said.
"And you all are unranked currently?" King Vulnar asked for confirmation.
Fredrick, Aiden, Rhea, Alexa, and Cedric nodded in response.
"Impressive," King Vulnar said, which caused a smile on their faces.
"But it was Fredrick who did most of the fighting, my lord," Alexa said, which caused a light smile on King Vulnar's face.
"As expected from the son of Neo Finland," he said.
Fredrick bowed his head slightly to the king.
Meanwhile, Rhea thought to herself, "Fredrick tried his best, but Aiden... No, Garuza was the one who defeated Shinra."
Cedric and Rhea exchanged a glance, then turned their gaze to Aiden.
"You all may go now," King Vulnar said.
They walked out of the king's palace.
As they left, King Vulnar called out, "Issac."
Issac turned back and re-entered the palace to meet the king. "Yes, my lord?"
"Apart from the youngsters who participated in the Yaijuu hunt, who else was there?" King Vulnar asked.
"Arthur Fernir, Mela, and Mark Volaris," Issac replied.
"I see... Thank you, Issac."
King Vulnar took a sip from his wine and relaxed on his throne.
Issac bowed and left the king's palace to join Aiden and the others outside.
"So, what now?" Rhea asked.
"Now... you all go back to class," Issac said.
They all groaned, but not loudly enough to catch Issac's attention. Issac walked towards the west side of the King's palace, which sparked Alexa's curiosity.
"Where is he going?" she asked.
"That's none of our business. Let's go," Fredrick said as they headed towards the east side of the King's palace.
The King's palace stood at the center of the kingdom, with different directions leading to different areas. The east side led to Zeru's academy, their destination. The north side led to the dungeons, home to the Atlantian soldiers, including Armor's elite. The south side led to the entrance of the kingdom. Meanwhile, the west side, where Issac was headed, led to the noble quarters, a district inhabited by the rich and influential families.
As they walked towards the academy, silence fell over the group. Alexa couldn't take it anymore. "Are we going to ignore the fact that this guy had the lightning element this whole time without telling anyone about it? Not just that, he knows someone's evolved type just by looking at them," she said, referring to Aiden.
Fredrick, Rhea, and Cedric gave Aiden a side-eye, and he sighed.
"I had a restricted awakening, you know how it works - being consumed with negative emotions that stop you from unlocking any evolved type... I awakened my evolved type a month ago," Aiden said, though it was a lie.
"Why didn't you tell us?" Alexa asked.
"Why should I?" Aiden replied, looking at Alexa.
"We're a team. Teamwork is crucial, and every team member should know each other's evolved types to use them properly in battle," Alexa said.
"Well, it turned out well, didn't it?" Aiden said.
Before Alexa could respond, Fredrick cut in. "Enough."
Fredrick stopped and turned to face them. "Aiden has his reasons for not telling us. What's done is done. Everyone here did their part when Shinra attacked."
He looked at each of them. "All we need to focus on is getting stronger for the next hunt. We saw what Shinra was capable of - he overpowered us. We need to make sure that doesn't happen again."
Alexa wanted to say something but kept quiet, and they all nodded in agreement.
"Only the strong survive," Aiden said, and Fredrick nodded in response.
"That's the motto of Zeru's academy, and it applies to the entire kingdom."
********************
In the King's palace, Vulnar's face broke into a light smile.
"That boy is the last of the Qinsura, and Garuza's vessel. Two chaos raging within a little child," Vulnar said to himself as he took a sip from his cup.
He paused, his eyes gleaming with interest. "Why hasn't Garuza attacked me when he saw me? I know he saw me; I sensed it."
A sly smile spread across his face. "Oh, he's trying to regain his strength. Well, until then, I know you can hear me, Garuza. Show me if you're worthy to take it away from me."
In the darkness within Aiden, a dark, splitting image of Aiden emerged. The image had dark tattoos on its arms, dark fingernails, and crimson hair that seemed to burn with an inner fire. Its eyes glowed with a fierce, crimson light, and a wicked smile spread across its face.