The rest of the trip went off without a hitch, the tension had gone down and the debate mainly revolved around the complaints of my comrades and Hope telling us about his future exploits.

We soon arrived in Sungen Town, one of the largest towns in the region and headquarters of the Southern Guild. Sana, Marie, Liliana, and Lilith prepared to go down, the time for our new farewell had come.

"So keep doing your best mister Dora, We'll do our best too and I hope to finally work with you one day."

"You wish to see Leon die?"

"*giggle* You better keep getting strong because we won't stay E-rank for long."

"By the way, Idiora, What is this device you were manipulating in the bus? It looks like a magic stone."

"Marie, this thing is called a mobile phone, have you never... Oh, yeah... Poverty."

"Jerk."

"Hm! No, I mean the village is so poor that no one has one, even I got this... In a special way! I'm not insulting you, I'll even give this to you as a farewell gift. "

I handed her the device. The kingdom had just recently opened up to some other countries, in which technology had reached an impressive point and thus, some of them have been imported but most were in possession of the richest families. I got mine from a special quest. Marie looked at the device and took it hesitantly with a little smile.

"Oh... Huh... Thanks, you're not too bad I guess... Hum..."

"You don't know how to use it, do you?"

"Jerk!"

Liliana laughed while Lilith pouted, it was definitely the right decision to cut the weed earlier.

"You better not think this is the end, You might have a better opportunity now but we will work harder and climb the ranks! Watch behind you because we will surpass you!"

"... You mean 'watch under me', right?"

"I'LL KILL YOU!!!"

Held back by Liliana, Lilith was dragged out from the bus, soon followed by Marie.

"Don't get killed in a rift."

"Won't happen, Don't get knocked up successfully by master Hero."

"Ew."

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

We exchanged one last smile and she left too. I was about to return to my seat when I found myself face to face with Sana, who remained behind.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye for now."

"Yeah, you should hurry, with his speed, Leon should be there in a few minutes."

"I'm not worried, I mean he wouldn't hold a chance against you, right? You were the one chosen by the academy. An avatar is always stronger."

It was her reasoning, a popular quote among normal people that became a general rule: a powerful Avatar is born with talent and will always surpass the best of any other classes. It was an immense source of pressure for weaker Avatars and a wall for other emissaries, For instance, I've been easily kicked for being a potential brake for the future of Shining Sword yet the Kingdom scouted me for what my maximum potential could offer.

But this coming from Sana, at this exact moment tickled me in the wrong way.

"Who knows? No matter what happens, it's my life. If he gets stronger, it's on me, if I get stronger it's also on me. I don't bother comparing myself to others, I only need the power to do what I want."

"Y-Yeah, I just mean that you're very strong, you'll become famous in no time and the best of emissaries can become nobles, It's really great for you. Well, I'll go with the others now, so. .. Do your best, and don't forget us, ok? I'll write you often."

"Ok, go now, it's exhausting to keep this hypnosis for so long."

"Yeah... Huh..."

She looked at me for a moment, as if she wanted to say something more, but she just gave me a smile and got off the bus. Hope and Elizabeth joined me.

"I won't teach you how to defend your honor, but seriously if it was me, I wouldn't have listened to all her bullshit. Do you see how she changed? Talk about a gold digger."

"It's between them, Hope, Stop butting into other people's business like that."

"I won't, I won't. I don't have time for this anyway, tomorrow is the big day so let's hurry. The world is waiting for the Hero Hope."

The door closed and the bus continued on its way, leaving the 4 girls behind.

"It's really great, in a way it's like a competition, us against Mr. Dora, are you feeling pumped up now, Marie?"

Marie, a stuffed animal against her chest, looked at the phone and smiled.

"Yes, let's not waste time... Oh, should we wait for them? They don't seem to have caught up."

They looked at the road from which we came, still not seeing their comrades.

"... You two, go to the guild first and start the enlistments, Sana and I will wait for them here."

Marie and Liliana nodded at Lilith and went ahead, leaving their last two comrades.

"So what was that?"

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean, Leon would have been furious if he saw you talking like that to Dora. What are you playing?"

Sana fixed her hair and looked at the horizon.

"What's the problem? I'm just nice with an old teammate, why are you angry about it?"

"Because if I'm not mistaken you're currently dating Leon and he and Dora hate each other's, more... You're really bold, didn't you say that you hated him because he cheated on you? Why are you suddenly forgetting that?"

"I really don't understand what you want to say, You heard him, everything was his plan, of course, I would be mistaken. But we may let it to the past."

"The past? What are you saying? What's about Leon?? You... You should really be careful with what you do."

"Yeah, Yeah, I will."

She simply smiled facing a sighing Lilith. A huge card game had started several days ago, and now each participant was standing on an ejector chair. The deadliest game in history was about to begin.

Meanwhile, in the kingdom's capital, Ambrosia, the midday sun made the walls of the magic academy shine radiantly white.

In a messy underground room, a woman with long, unkempt green hair observed a blue screen hanging in the air.

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"Ah, at last. I can't believe you made me wait for so long, my little toy."