"What if she actually does agree to help us?" Marten said as he sat in his seat cross-legged. He was currently in the Crossers' HQ meeting room with Dave and Axel.
"Let's not get our hopes too high." Dave responded.
"Enough." Axel sighed. "We'll wait for Orville and Crown before we decide."
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Axel furrowed his brows. No one was supposed to know about their meeting except Nevin.
Axel quickly gave his two subordinates a stern look before clearing his throat, "Come in."
"Hey, Axel." Tala walked in with Pida, Phina and Nevin. She then smirked. "Guess what?"
Axel's eyes widened in absolute shock. He quickly regained his composure. "What is it, Tala? Wanna leave the city again?"
"She already knows." Tala's smile widened. "Come on, Seraphina."
Silence overcame the entire room at the mention of that name. Nevin turned to Phina with fear and the trio of Axel, Dane and Marten were on high alert right now.
Phina took a deep breath before she stepped forward. She took off her Black Jade mask, revealing her long and bright red hair. It had truly grown wild from the sheer amount of Life Energy she has absorbed from beasts in her time in the Killers' Arena.
"I am Seraphina Ender. I have a proposition that, if successful, will bring about racial peace within the Killers' Arena while also freeing whoever are sick of this place." Phina said with a heavy tone. "I think we have a pretty high chance of succeeding too. Would you care to hear me out?"
Everyone in the room turned to Axel. He was the head of the Crossers' gang and had the highest chance of beating Seraphina if a fight broke out. It all depends on him now.
'She's nervous. That probably means that she's close to her goal and really wants our help as residents of the Killers' Arena...or that she's not as powerful as the rumors say. She's not confident in being able to beat me.' Axel analyzed with cold eyes. He then said in a low tone. "Continue."
"My goal in the Killers' Arena is to complete a Skill. After I complete this Skill, I can leave the Killers' Arena and go back to the outside world." Phina nervously exposed her goals. "If you can help me, I won't hesitate to buy the Killers' Arena and free its inhabitants after doing that. If you wish to continue on with the culture you built inside, I can simply stop the Exodia's punishment and build a giant barrier between you and the beasts."
"I remember that someone in the past also got stuck here and said the same thing. When he got released, he didn't buy it. There were two possibilities." Axel said with a small breath. "He either didn't have enough wealth to buy it, or he didn't buy it and had betrayed the Killers' Arena."
"On the wealth part, you can rest easy." Phina said. "After I learn this Skill, I can get 3 million EPs. The average price for an Arena is a million EPs from what I remember."
"As for the loyalty part, I can attest to that." Pida stepped forward. "I, Pida Kano, will be held responsible along with my Kano family."
"Kano?!" Axel felt a chill go down his spine.
The Kano family were well-known for three things. Firstly, the grandfather, father and mother of the family were all Apex-rankers. Second, the youngest daughter of the family, Irene Kano, was known as the richest woman in the Arena. Her skills as a merchant were second to none! Third, this family has never pledged allegiance to any of the factions. Whoever wants them has to seek an audience with their grandfather, even the Monarchs! A force of three lawless Apex-rankers was no joke. Neither faction had the manpower to abandon some cities to fight back.
"I understand." Axel nodded and started thinking. "What do you need to learn this Skill? Do you at least know that? If you do, then you have a deal."
"I need to reach the Apex-rank." Phina said confidently. "I am currently stuck on the Middle stage of the Expert-rank. I am willing to skip most of the Founder-rank if it can mean learning the Skill earlier."
"I see." Axel started an inner debate with himself. Pida listened to every word with grit teeth.
"I'm willing to be constantly under surveillance until I reach the Apex-rank. If I can't learn it even after reaching the Apex-rank, you may kill me. I won't resist." Phina said with determination.
"Shira!" Pida called out.
"Enough with the façade, Pida." Phina smiled weakly. "I'm sick of this name. I don't even know who Shira is exactly. I am Seraphina Ender. I will reach the Apex-rank and free the Arena! I'm willing to bet my life on it!"
"Seraphina..." Pida looked at her with shock.
"Fine." Axel said with a sigh. His eyes then turned cold again. "During this time, I will help you reach the Apex-rank. You will constantly stay by my side during that time. You will be Leader Shira of the Crossers' gang. Your two Captains will be Tala and Spear. I will help you like my master helped me."
"Thank you!" Phina bowed at the waist. Tears welled up in her eyes. "Thank you so much!"
"We start now. Let's go." Axel got up and rushed to his room while motioning for Phina to follow him. 'If we can get her to Apex-rank quickly, we can integrate with the outside world where racism won't stand. If she doesn't learn the Skill, we can just tell the Monarchs.'
Pida smiled uncomfortably. 'Safe for now, I guess.'
Pida put a hand on Phina's shoulder. "Seraphina, we're getting closer to our goal."
"Yeah..." Phina simply smiled as she looked at Pida. "Thank you, Pida. For everything."
"What's this?" Pida took off his mask and smirked. "Don't go all sentimental on me yet. You can do that when you make me your Vice General."
"I wouldn't trust anyone else with that position." Phina laughed as she lightly punched Pida's shoulder.
"Come on!" Axel released a low shout with little patience.
"Yes, Sir!" Phina called out as she followed.
The two entered Axel's room. It was a very basic room, definitely not worthy enough of the boss of the Crossers' gang.
"Sit." Axel pointed to his bed. He immediately sat behind her. "What Element do you want?"
"Holy." Phina answered. 'If I can use Holy World Energy, it would be infinitely easier to use Holy Devastation.'
"I have Water and Wind, which one do you want?" Axel calmly said as he sat cross-legged behind Phina.
"I would really appreciate it if we could wait for Crown." Phina explained.
"To reach the Apex-rank, you have to fuse your World Energy Core with Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, Dark and Holy Elements." Axel explained. "If I can get you to fuse with Water and Wind, you'll be closer to the Apex-rank while we wait for Crown and the rest of the gangs' heads."
"..." Phina bit her lip. "My main Skill uses the Holy Element. If I convert my World Energy into Wind or Water World Energy, I'll have to convert it into normal World Energy then invoke the Holy Element. It will take drastically more World Energy to use the Skill."
"We're not letting you fight anyone." Axel sighed. "We need you to learn the Skill. That's all we need."
"Alright." Phina immediately nodded. "Wind then."
"Get ready, it might hurt. Don't resist though." Axel said as he took a cold breath.
Phina could feel a calm breeze as the Wind World Energy entered into her back, approaching her World Energy Core. She smiled as the Wind World Energy gently touched her World Energy Core.
"Are you ready?" Axel asked.
"Yeah." Phina nodded confidently.
"Alright, here I go." Axel's face turned extremely serious.
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!" Phina roared in pain as the Wind World Energy drained her entire Core. She screamed in pain for 20 minutes straight throughout this painful and excruciating process.
"Alright." Axel said as he took a bunch of deep breaths. Phina had instinctively resisted which made the process that much harder on him. "Now we just need you to recharge your Core."
"O-Okay..." Phina responded in a raspy voice. She felt a layer of Wind World Energy around her Core. As the World Energy entered into her Core, it was slightly tinted by the Wind World Energy.
It took another 20 minutes for Phina to recharge. "Now what?"
"Now we rest, then we go again." Axel said between breaths.
"We're gonna do it again?" Phina grit her teeth.
"Yes. What we're doing is making your Core adapt to the Wind Element. Most people have this process quickly. If normal people are like a large explosion, this process is like slowly roasting. I went through this before, so I know the pain. Bare with it." Axel explained as he rested. Now he knew how his master felt when he kept resisting back then.
"O-Okay...sorry." Phina felt guilty. She was usually a genius with unbreakable talent. She didn't know what was wrong with her.
"Don't worry." Axel said. "We'll go again in 20 minutes. We'll keep doing this for 10 hours everyday."
"Got it." Phina nodded. She was dreading the pain, but she didn't know of any other way.
"You keep trying on your own too." Axel said.
--------------------------------------------------------------
"I-Is she alright?" Pida asked as he heard the horrifying scream coming from Axel's room. If he hadn't read their thoughts from outside the room after the first shout, he would already have broken into the room with World's Order all charged up.
"I know how you feel, but it's part of the process." Tala awkwardly smiled. She knew it all too well. Her heart almost broke as she heard her brother, who was 16 at the time shout even louder.
"But it's been 6 hours already..." Pida looked at the door with worry.
"Let's get out of here." Nevin commented. "I want to get you drunk and I want you to explain everything to me."
"You're probably lost aren't you?" Tala smirked.
"Hell yeah I'm lost! Seraphina Ender?! Are you serious?!" Nevin looked at her with slight rage. "No one told me either!"
"What are we supposed to do? Here Nevin this is Ender, go ruin our plan?" Tala chuckled. "Though I could really use that drink."
"I'll wait for Seraphina." Pida muttered.
"The process will take weeks if not months." Tala explained. "Let's go cool off for now."
"A-Alright." Pida nodded hesitantly.
"Let me join in on that drink. I'm also interested in Seraphina Ender." Pida heard Marten's voice.
He wasn't wearing his usual smile. He was actually frowning.
"Alright." Nevin nodded as he headed to the bar of Crossers' HQ.
He went out and clapped loudly. "Alright, everyone! Out! We have important business."
"Seems the Crossers gang has been making moves lately. Can't I enjoy a cold beer while waiting for my boss? At least before you start whatever you're planning?" a short old Elf man chuckled.
"Keep your mouth shut if know what's good for you, Tekker!" Nevin glared at the old man.
"Tut. Tut. Tut." Tekker smiled as he waved his finger. "We wouldn't want Kano Industries to take back its funding, would we?"
"Kano Industries? Irene's business?" Pida raised an eyebrow.
"Yes. Irene gave me full authority over the Dull Desert, Elven Hellzone and Angelic Nightfall." Tekker smirked.
"You personally know her?" Pida was pleasantly surprised. "Where is she right now?"
"Why would I tell you?" Tekker glared at Pida.
"Seems like she infected her underlings with her cautiousness." Pida laughed as he took off his mask. "My name is Pida, I'm her brother."
"OH?!?" Tekker's eyes widened. He definitely saw the resemblance. They both had that youthful face with a mature air around them. It wasn't due to their maturity, but due to the disparity of how they look and how old they actually are. "Then what's Irene's middle name?"
"Hahaha!!" Pida started laughing. "Don't try to play me, old man! She'd never tell a soul! That's her only weakness."
"You're actually her brother..." Tekker was dumbfounded. He never thought that the cold-hearted Irene would have such a sociable brother. She usually left the reputation gather to Tekker and the business negotiations to herself.
"How is she? Where is she?" Pida sat down with a smile. At this point, everyone had left the tavern except for Nevin, Marten, Tala, Pida, Tekker and the bartender.
"Ironically, she's coming to this city right now." Tekker said as he sat opposite Pida on the table.
The rest of the group got the message and sat at another table as they ordered drinks.
"She's coming here?!" Pida seemed to panic slightly.
"Yeah. She told me to meet her here in this bar for an important meeting a few weeks ago. She should be here any day now. Actually, she might be in the city already." Tekker gave him a weird look.
"Fuck!" Pida got up out of his chair and ran out of the bar.
"H-Hey! Where are you goin?!" Tala yelled after him.
"Relax, he knows the way back. If not, he can just ask around." Nevin said as he took a chug of his beer.
"S-Shit!" Pida muttered under his breath as he ran out of the bar. He twisted and turned on the roads. He breathed heavily as he sunk to the ground. He quickly entered a random bar as he calmed down. "Why would she come here now?!"
"P-Pida?" Pida heard a voice that pierced his heart.
"SHIT!!!" Pida immediately dashed out of the bar, but was quickly interrupted as he felt something grip his shoulder.
Heavy breathing could be heard as a masked girl ran out of the bar as well. Her familiar voice also caused Pida to panic. "Mother! What's wrong?"
The girl was stunned silent. She witnessed the masked woman with long blonde hair gripping Pida's shoulder. "P-Pida?!"
"Why are you running away?!" the masked woman glared at Pida as she took off her mask.
Pure beauty. That was the only way to describe her. Her beautiful bangs covered her forehead as her long wavy hair flowed onto her back. Her thin, dazzling emerald green, eyes were sparkling. Her figure was truly that of a woman.
"Let go!" Pida struggled, yet to no avail. He knew the woman in front of him. She was quite the powerful Apex-ranker.
"You don't want to face your mother this much?" the woman asked in a heartbroken tone. She was Matilda Kano, Pida's mother. She had tears within her eyes as he slowly let go. "Fine then. I won't bother you anymore."
As soon she let go, Pida looked at her with a wary look. He slowly backed off.
"Pida! Talk to her, you coward!!" the girl growled.
"I-Irene..." Pida looked at his sister. 'Damn it! I thought that they'd be together, but this is the worst possible situation for me!'
"Face Mother, you bastard!" Irene glared at him. "You were full of courage when you said that you'd go after Grandpa, weren't you?! Where's that courage now?!"
"You know nothing!!" Pida growled back. "You disappear for months and months then return for a single week! You never knew anything about us!"
"What did you say?" Irene responded coldly.
"Enough! People are staring! Let's go meet your friend, Irene." Matilda said with a saddened tone.
"..." Irene grit her teeth as she looked around her. She saw her mother walk ahead and followed. She glared at Pida as she walked by. "Coward."
Pida ran back to the HQ. He knew where it was and was actively running, so he got there before the duo.
"Hah...hah...hah..." Pida breathed deeply as he approached Tekker. He grabbed him by the collar.
"W-What the hell?!" Tekker was somewhat drunk at this point.
"Irene's coming here right now. You don't tell her that I was here. You don't tell her that you saw me. You don't tell her anything about me. Are we clear?" Pida released all his Killing Intent.
The poor Tekker was only a Beginner-rank, he couldn't withstand the Killing Intent as he nodded with a pale face.
Pida threw him to the ground and ran back to the door to Axel's room. It had already been an hour since he left. There were 3 hours left.
Pida just waited patiently as he listened in on Phina's thoughts from outside the door.
'All she's thinking about is the Killers' Arena and me. Damn it...why did they have to show up at such a crucial time?' Pida thought as tears slowly fell from his eyes. He looked at his mask. His grandfather had given him this mask. 'Damn it, Grandpa! Where are you when I need you most?!'
Pida just mindlessly stared at the ceiling until he heard a click. The door opened and Phina walked out.
"P-Pida? Are you crying?" Phina looked like a skeleton. In this single session, she already had bags under her eyes.
"Yeah." Pida emotionlessly replied. He had already cried his frustrations out.
"Why?" Phina asked as she sat next to him. Axel was simply resting in his room.
"My sister and mother are here." Pida responded honestly.
"What?!!" Phina was immediately shocked.
"We can't let them know you exist." Pida sighed.
"W-Why?" Phina asked cautiously. She knew that Pida had a bad relationship with his parents, but he said he didn't have that bad of a relationship with his sisters.
"My mother is a bitch." Pida grit his teeth. "She thinks everything is a distraction from training. She killed two of my friends and all four of my pets. If she knows about you, she'll definitely judge that you're distracting me and will kill you."
"I can hold my own." Phina said confidently.
"She's an Apex-ranker." Pida sighed.
"..." Phina thought silently. "Fine. I can solve this issue."
"Seraphina! No!" Pida quickly got up after her.
"Trust me..." Phina looked at Pida with tired, yet earnest eyes.
"O-Okay." Pida was shocked slightly. He never saw this amount of confidence from Phina unless it was about the fate of the Arena or her life.
Phina put on her Black Jade mask and walked to the bar.
She saw a woman and a girl seated in front of an old man she recognized. 'Tekker?! Why's he talking with Pida's family?'
"Good evening." Phina pulled a chair at their table.
"Excuse me, we're discussing important business." Irene glared at Phina with her cold blue eyes.
"Long time no see, Tekker." Phina smiled weakly. She was still tired from that session.
"D-Do I know you?" Tekker looked at her.
"I'm Shira. The one you sold the Black Jade mask to." Shira smiled politely.
"Nevin! Come pick up your puppy! You should learn to keep your dogs on a leash!" Irene called out with irritation.
"She's the one holding the leash here. Hic." Nevin hiccupped as he drank another cup.
"I haven't introduced myself to you." Phina turned to the two and bowed slightly. "My name is Shira, I am Pida's friend and travelling companion."
"So...you're the one who bewitched my son and dragged him to the pit of mediocrity?" Matilda glared at Phina hatefully. "He's already 36 and he's still an Advanced-ranker."
"Pida is 24, Ma'am." Phina said in a weak tone, yet she never broke eye-contact.
"What did you just say?!" Matilda said with a rough tone.
"Mother, Calliope was the one that was 36." Irene awkwardly corrected her mother.
"You're one to talk! You're only at the Peak stage Beginner-rank!" Matilda turned her fury to her daughter.
"Pida was training with me. He was learning a certain Skill I'm learning myself." Phina smiled.
Everyone turned to look at her. The Crossers gang group paid close attention. Marten even used a little Life Energy to sober up. If this Skill was powerful enough to warrant enough of the Exodia's currency to buy an Arena or two, it would be worth it if he could learn some of it at least.
Phina slowly stood up and motioned for Matilda to do the same. She slowly unsheathed her dagger and entered into her Ender State.
Bow before the Lord.
Vroom.
A wave of Battle Intent washed over the entire bar.