The stern man dismissed everyone after giving a few specific people orders. Lapsa helped Cayden off the floor, neither of them seemed to feel any sort of sadness for the collapsed star.

Cronix's eyebrows tilted as he got off the floor,

I still haven't been given any work, would I be whipped if I did nothing?

So he approached the two boys.

"Damn it, I was hoping to keep that star for at least a month." Cayden sighed, his voice filled with exaggerated pity.

These words had no effect on Lapsa, but to Cronix, it caused his expression to turn bizarre.

"Are you even sad one of your stars collapsed?" Cronix felt like there was something wrong with the demi-human in front of him. Any normal person would at least be angry if one of their stars collapsed.

Cayden looked at Cronix, "Of course, I had that star for three weeks! That's the longest time I've ever kept a star since I came here."

Cronix's mouth twitched, "Have you ever had more stars then just those five?"

Cayden nodded his head, "17, I've created 17 stars throughout the seven years I've been here." This time not only was Cronix surprised, but Lapsa's eyes widened as well.

"And you're not even in the flawless Caster stage?" Cronix was in disbelief, it took him two years for him to get from the two-star Caster stage to the five-star Caster stage, yet Cayden has made 17 stars in seven years, that's...2.4 stars per year.

"Yeah, you shouldn't enter the flawless Caster stage here, the Ayunas kill demi-humans who enter those stages." Cayden's expression darken for a moment, but in a split second, it was back to normal, "Anyways... I still have to show you around."

Cayden walked through the hallway underneath the imperial staircase adjusting his clothes, Cronix and Lapsa followed behind.

Cayden first brought Cronix to the laundry room, "Wait here, I need to get something." Cayden then entered the room, leaving Cronix and Lapsa outside.

"Oh my goodness, why are you here again?" One of the demi-humans asked.

Cayden smiled, "I need a new tie."

Another demi-human entered the conversation, "Seriously! You've been here three times already this week." With their voice, the rest of the demi-humans in the room were aware of Cayden's presence.

"This guy again!"

"How reckless is he to destroy so many clothes in one week? It's not that hard to keep clothes from breaking!"

"I think we should make him wait another week before we give him anything!"

Cayden could only shift his weight at their remarks, "Come on guys, this time it wasn't my fault."

"Oh, of course, it's not his fault, it's never his fault."

"Yeah, who are we to accuse him, how dare we say an innocent man is at fault."

Cayden held up his hands, "This time the tie isn't for me but for Lapsa."

The room fell silent until one of the laundry demi-humans sighed, they grabbed a newly made tie and tossed it to Cayden, "If you come back here any more times this week, we're not giving you any more clothes ever."

The rest of the demi-humans agreed.

"Thank you, thank you, don't worry I'm not coming back till next week, see you guys then!" Cayden left the room with those words, causing all the laundry demi-humans faces to darken.

It was silent between Lapsa and Cronix as they waited for Cayden to come out.

Lapsa was quietly fidgeting and Cronix hadn't spoken to many people in his life; he only ever had one friend in the form of the crow.

"Oh, crap! I completely forgot about them." Cronix's sudden voice caused Lapsa to jump.

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"Who did you forget?" Cayden asked as he left the laundry room.

"Have you guys ever seen a crow with a silver collar and feathers, or if it doesn't have the collar it's in the five-star flawless Caster stage?"

Cayden had never seen nor heard of a crow matching those descriptions, but Lapsa on the other hand...

"You were brought here by young master Topaz right?" Lapsa asked, in which Cronix nodded, "Then your crow is probably in his room, but he's ordered the servants not to enter."

Cronix felt a small bit of relief from this information, "Thank you." Lapsa didn't know how to respond.

"Okay, let's get going," Cayden said after putting on the tie. The next place they went to was the kitchen where they dropped off Lapsa.

"Hey, I want to show you something," Cayden said after leaving the area. He then proceeded to guide Cronix through another part of the manor, eventually they went down a set of wooden stairs and arrived at the dim beer cellar.

"Why are we here?" Cronix questioned, examining the barrels of alcohol.

"Do you want a drink?" Cayden asked, leaning near to the wall next to Cronix, playing with the ring on his left hand, not answering his question.

"I don't drink." Cronix's eyes narrowed as he looked at Cayden.

"That's good, very good, my father told me not to drink before I'm 21." Cayden's eyebrows shifted when he said that, but he buried whatever feelings he felt.

"You know, you've come here at a very... complicated time." Cayden said, his words invoked a feeling of uncertainty in Cronix's heart, "Right now all demi-humans are in danger because of something that happened at the main family that they haven't disclosed yet."

The way Cayden was acting made Cronix feel uncomfortable, he spread out his mental energy into a little dome.

Cayden felt a weird feeling come over him, but he didn't know what it was.

"Why are you telling me this?" Cronix asked, taking a step back.

"Well... It's simple." Cronix felt it coming through his mental energy, but his reaction time was way too slow, Cayden slammed his back against the beer barrel.

"I want to know what you are, and why you're here, because you're no demi-human."

Cronix was stunned, but he managed to say, "Cayden you're not making any sense, I was brought here by accident after I..." Cayden didn't let him finish, and threw him against the wall.

"Stop acting stupid, answer me or... or I'll kill you!" All four of Cayden's stars revealed themselves, and even though he had fewer stars than Cronix, his stars were higher quality.

But Cronix didn't focus on magic.

The hairs on the back of Cayden's neck all stood up, and the weird feeling he felt earlier was replaced with one full of dread, and danger.

Cayden jumped back, and he felt an invisible force pass by the spot he just stood at.

Cronix glared at Cayden, "How about we talk this out, I'm sure this is all a misunderstanding!"

Cayden's eyes narrowed, "Okay, let's talk about the fact that you look like a demi-human a human child would draw. Like your horns and, lion's tail, or your human ears, and vertical pupils, not even crossbreeds have so many conflicting features. And is that a dagger on the end of your tail, were you guys even trying?"

Cronix frowned when he pointed out all these features, these were his natural features, yet they're being used against him.

"This is all just one big misunderstanding, believe me, I admit I'm not a demi-human, but I'm not human either." Cronix tried to convince Cayden.

"Then what are you?" Cayden asked, while getting ready to attack again, the earth elements seeping from the dirt, and through the wooden walls.

"I'm a kereta genus."

Cayden frowned then transformed the earth elements into five lances.

He didn't understand Cronix's answer in the slightest, but that wasn't his fault, and Cronix instantly realized that.

"I mean, I'm a demon!" Cronix corrected himself before Cayden could use those lances.

Cayden's eyes narrowed, "Prove it."

"How do I do that? I mean, don't I look like a demon?"

"No, I've heard demons are these crazy, ugly monsters with huge spiky horns, and a dagger-like tail... I guess your tail looks like a demon's. But I need real proof like..." A gleam shined in Cayden's eyes, "The dark element."

Cronix frowned, "I don't think that's entirely fair, that's like saying all humans can harness the light element."

"So can you prove it or not?" Cayden didn't have any other way to prove if Cronix was telling the truth, and right now, the situation in the Ayuna branches was getting complicated for some unknown reason.

"Don't worry, I do happen to be able to use the dark element," Cronix said as he gathered the dark elements into a ball, when it appeared it gave off a cold feeling, one where no light nor life would be able to escape its grasp.

"Wow! I never thought I would be able to see the dark elements in my lifetime." Cayden said, his eyes didn't leave the dark element ball until Cronix stopped harnessing it.

"I haven't used the dark element in a long time... But that's not important, I demand an explanation."

Cayden put on an embarrassed face, "Sorry about that, right now I heard there's going to be an internal investigation among the demi-humans since there was a murder that happened in the main family."

Cronix shook his head, "That has nothing to do with me... Well, I did kill someone from this family, but I'm fairly certain he wasn't from the main family."

"You killed an Ayuna?" Cayden went over what Cronix said in his mind, then it hit him, "Are you the reason Tornic's dead?"

Cronix nodded, "It was an accident really, and I got extremely lucky he attacked when he did, but yeah I killed him."

Cayden wore a thoughtful expression, as he muttered, "I remember the day he left, saying something about getting stronger." Cayden sighed, "Anyways, I wasted enough time here, we still have to complete some tasks, I'll give you the rest of the tour later."

Cronix followed Cayden to the office of the party planner, "Wait here." Cayden told him as he entered the room.

Cronix obeyed and watched Cayden enter the room.

Cronix took a deep breathe and leaned against the wall, resting his head,

Today has been a very... crazy day, I've lost too much, and I don't know if I can trust these people... Why is life so complicated?

Cayden left the room a moment later with a dark expression on his face, and a paper in his hand.