Vikram stood in front of Lakshman and remained still as Lakshman applied the magic spell, Restoration, on him. Soon, all of his injuries and the wound on his forehead retracted and became normal once more. Everyone else that received the same treatment from Lakshman were feeling as good as new with renewed energy.

“That was an amazing fight, Vikram,” said Lakshman as a compliment. Then, in a more serious voice, he added, “But it was reckless. I’ll add only that.”

Vikram shrugged his shoulders and replied, “Hey, it’s part of the job of being a hero you know.”

Lakshman smiled and asked, “Is that how you felt when that bullet almost hit you? You didn’t feel any fear? None whatsoever?”

This made the other person realize he was watched, and smiled a little as he replied, “You’re sharp. Yes. I did fear, fear that I might die just like that without having achieved anything to be proud of, but that same fear made me react the way I did and it saved my life.”

None of them would have witnessed it but Vikram had used his incredible speed to catch the bullet and forcefully brought it to a stop. Unfortunately, coming in contact with the miniature object caused it to set off and explode in his face, causing him such a head injury as he was thrown backwards. Under normal circumstances, it was a blast strong enough to knock his brain senseless but being a member of the Nine Heroes of Legends gave him strength that he was unaware of and it allowed him to endure the blast and return back into action.

“But that’s so reckless, Vikram!” Fred said with an anxious look on his face. “What if your attack failed? What if the enemy was stronger than you? Many things could’ve gone wrong!”

“Then, are you suggesting that we give up in the face of overwhelming power?” Vikram asked, rounding on him with a serious look on his face and surprising Fred in the process. “Are you telling us to surrender if the opposition is bigger than we are?”

Surprised at being spoken to in such a serious manner, Fred said in a fluster, “N-No! I didn’t mean that! I didn’t mean it at all! I was just pointing out that it’s very dangerous of you to risk your life like that!”

Vikram stared at Fred for a moment in complete silence before saying, “I’m a hero and saving people is a natural thing to do. Even if it costs me my life, I will succeed in what I’m doing and save those that can’t defend themselves. Even if the opposition is bigger than me, I won’t stand down. I’m not a bystander, I’m one of the Nine Heroes of Legends!”

Fred raised his eyes in surprise and looked sad as he understood the harsh truth of Vikram’s words but he did not like it. On the other hand, Vikram’s words made everyone else look at him with looks of admiration on their faces as they were impressed by his resolve. Even Lakshman chuckled to himself when he heard such a heart moving speech.

“In a way, he’s similar to me,” thought Lakshman with a smile. “I thought he was childish, but I guess there’s more to him than what meets the eye, although, I did suspect that there is a serious side to him but not this serious.”

Gram, who was standing off to the side, glanced at Vikram and asked, “What’s the motivation behind you saying that?”

The Sonic Hero turned to face the Tempest Hero and said two words that startled the prince from another world.

“My Parents.”

There was a moment of pause, which was broken by Bolten, who said, “Alright! I think it’s best to head back now.”

“Already?” Maxwell asked, alarmed by the prince’s words and looked down at their unconscious assailant. “What about him? Shouldn’t we interrogate him for answers?”

At that moment, Bernard stepped in and said with a smile, “Leave that to us, young heroes. It’s part of our job to handle situations like these, and we may already have an idea of why this happened. So, please return and we will inform you of whatever we get to learn from this man.”

Maxwell looked unimpressed, Vikram shrugged his shoulders as it did not bother him, and Gram sighed while closing his eyes and folding his arms. Lakshman, on the other hand, received an alarm from the Elemental Sense that this man just lied to them but he decided to let it go as he was not aware of his reasons. In addition to that, he also felt he should hold back from showing too much of his skills since he had already shown them his full powers earlier that day.

“Better not reveal all the tricks I have so soon,” he thought, to which Asura agreed by saying, “Wise choice.”

So, the Nine Heroes of Legends, the two royal siblings, and Raze made their way back to the car while being escorted by Bernard and his assistant. The other members of the officers thanked the heroes for their support in such an unexpected encounter with an enemy, to which the heroes replied in their own way.

“Alright. Goodbye, Bernard,” said Bolten, and Bernard nodded at him silent in reply.

Once they all got into the car, the driver brought the engine to life and drove it into the sky to head back to the academy. Inside, Lakshman turned to the first prince and asked a question that caught everyone’s interest all at once.

“Bolten, I take it you’re aware of who our enemy was?”

As all eyes settled on the Bolten, the prince sighed and replied, “That’s right. That man belongs to an organization known as the Raven’s Guild.”

“Raven’s Guild?” Vikram asked, raising an eyebrow in amusement. “What’s up with that name? It’s so strange.”

“They’re an organization that commits crimes across the world and seemingly gets away without a single trace. This is the first time we were able to capture one of their members and it was all thanks to your help,” said Bolten, putting a bitter smile on his face.

As everyone looked at one another in amazement, Lakshman thought, “I see. It makes sense now why that person lied to us because he himself was not sure of how much he would learn from that person. Such a sad situation. If I were to have Wolfenstine’s Noitophturt, we could’ve easily coaxed the truth out of him. Too bad such a convenient tool is not available here.”

In the meanwhile, Martin asked anxiously, “Have you been unable to deal with them? I mean, that Raven’s Guild thing because they sound like some really bad guys.”

“Bad guys?” William said, snorting with laughter. “I think you’ll find that everything is based on our perspectives of what is good and bad, Martin. Isn’t that right, prince”

Bolten sadly smiled and said, “That is a point to be noted. Now to answer Martin’s question, no. We’re unable to deal with them because they’re just that good at hiding their tracks and can just disappear off the map if they wish to, which we have no idea how they do it. We just know they got some really advanced technology on their side and someone with the brains to invest such things to cause problems to our society as a whole.”

“’For the preservation of life and truth’,” said Erza in a sorrowful voice while sitting beside her brother. “That’s the caption they always leave behind after each of their crimes.”

While everyone looked confused, Vikram blinked in amazement and asked, “Wow…! Those guys sound like they have some screws lose in their heads or something.”

“So, what kind of crimes are they usually involved in?” Maxwell asked, looking very interested.

“Causing damage to the production of the M.E.D.s, stealing exported goods, and causing civil unrest,” stated Erza, looking gloomily at her hands. “Their message is that our society is slowly being corrupted with technology, and that the higher ups are doing their best to cover up the corruption that is our king and his ministers.”

“Oh… That’s harsh,” said Fred, looking sorry and feeling sympathy for the royal family.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

A few of them shared Fred’s feelings while the others were wondering about the kind of group they were dealing with. Lakshman was suddenly reminded of a religious group back in his home world several years ago, and how they coaxed the public by instilling in them the fear of god. They even attempted to eliminate him by sending a private mercenary group to his home, which failed miserably and caused Lakshman to quickly take action and disband that group for good.

“Controversial things are such a pain to deal with,” said Asura, voicing Lakshman’s feelings as he also felt the same.

“Well then, I suppose it’s a good thing we caught that man today,” said Vikram, smiling triumphantly. He turned to Lakshman and curiously asked, “Was this what you predicted or something? Surely you have some kind of clairvoyance or future sight ability with all the power you have!”

This made Lakshman burst out laughing before he calmed down and said, “Haha. That’s quite funny, Vikram. Sadly, I’m not accustomed to using such spells because of the heavy burden they place on my mind.”

“Oh. So, you’re the type who faces the challenges as they come,” said Vikram, and Lakshman shrugged with a smile.

“Well, I do have an active detection filed active at all times, but I won’t be able to sense anything that’s beyond it,” explained Lakshman, which surprised them all. “I’m guessing that’s the reason I failed to detect the hostility of those people yesterday because they were outside my sensing range. Even today, if it weren’t for Martin, I wouldn’t have noticed them.”

“Yeah! If it weren’t for Martin, we would’ve been sitting ducks!” Maxwell said, turning to face the nervous young man, who was fidgeting with his fingers. “That was some great observation skills you have there, Martin!”

“T-T-Thank you,” replied Martin, smiling in embarrassment. “I-I didn’t really d-do much compared t-to you guys.”

While they looked at him with amusement, William suddenly frowned and asked, “Actually, Martin, how were you able to detect them? Sure, I got this long sight ability possessing archery weapons, but you were able to feel their presence! How were you able to do it?”

“Um…” began Martin hesitantly, turning to look at each of them nervously while at it. “I… I’m not too sure. I mean… I guess it… felt like they’re glaring at me… like they’re going to pierce me with something…! It just… felt so awful to bear.”

Lakshman, who understood his meaning quicker than the others, nodded in understanding and said, “I see. That makes sense. Because of your fear of being observed, you had developed an unconscious ability to sense your surroundings. As long as people have you in their sights, then you’d be able to sense them, even if they are far away from you.”

“Wow! That’s quite the skill you got there, Martin!” Vikram said, grinning broadly in excitement.

Maritn was feeling overwhelmed by the sudden attention he was receiving, causing him to fidget nervously while feebly muttering, “I… I don’t know…”

“But it’s good that you took to heart what I told everyone when the aliens attacked the second time,” said Natsu, sounding impressed.

“It didn’t work out the way I… wanted it to,” said Martin, sounding depressed.

“Maybe not, but you tried and that counts. Compared to the rest of us, who were idling by, you stepped forward and tried to stop them, which I took as my cue to take action in making them disappear,” said Natsu brazenly. “You will improve your skills. In fact, we all have to improve our skills because, as heroes, we’re not up to par with Lakshman, who is by far the strongest among us.”

At those words, everyone nodded their heads in a silent agreement, all except for Gram, who opened his closed eyes and said, “For now, he is, but don’t expect me to just sit here, folding my arms and waiting for something to happen! I’ll start training and, soon, I will surpass all of you!”

“Okay, big boss! We hear you loud and clear,” replied Vikram mockingly, making Gram fume with anger.

“You really want me to punch you in the face?” Gram asked, crashing his fingers menacingly.

“Oh~! I’d like to see you try and match my speed!” Vikram fired back with a grin on his face.

While the two of them were glaring at each other and the rest were watching them in amusement, Bolten turned to Lakshman and asked, “About that training…? My suggestion is that we head to the castle and have a training session today.”

“Eh?” Lakshman asked, looking quite surprised. “Training now? But, what about the education? All the things we need to know as heroes?”

“All of you are smart and will learn in due time, but skills and training are something else. Unlike you, the rest of your comrades are sorely lacking in those, so I think it’s better that we focus on honing your skills first. What do you say?”

“Mmm,” muttered Lakshman, thinking about the suggestion and feeling like it was a good idea. “Sure. Sounds good, and I’ll be able to get the training I’d been lacking since arriving in this world.”

“Great! We’re in agreement then!” Bolten replied with a pleasant smile on his face.

He immediately instructed the driver to take them to the castle instead of the academy, and the driver obliged. Several minutes later, the car descended and landed before allowing its occupants to exit through the door that a Royal Guard stepped forward and opened for them.

“Change into your casual clothes and meet us at the entrance,” said Bolten to them all after informing them that they would be training instead of attending the academy that day.

“Got it!” Vikram said, smiling from ear to ear with excitement. “I can’t wait to use my skills!”

“Just don’t hurt yourself like the newbie that you are,” commented Gram from the side.

“Dammit! Just you wait! I’ll show you I’m better than you, stupid fool!”

“Yes because ‘stupid’ and ‘fool’ really go together and that actually makes sense,” Gram commented in a sarcastic voice devoid of emotion.

Vikram went to reply when Natsu said, “Drop it. If you have anything to prove, then do it during the training.”

“Yeah! I definitely will!” Vikram said firmly, shooting a glare at Gram, who completely ignored him.

It took them a few minutes to get dressed and meet the three royal siblings at the castle entrance, who were also being joined by Raze. This surprised everyone, especially Lakshman as he was expecting to only be joined by the three royal siblings.

“You’re interested in joining the training session, Raze?” He asked out of curiosity.

She nodded and replied with, “That’s right because I’m not satisfied with the level of strength that I possess, and that’s why I wish to get stronger… Lucky.”

Raze paused for a moment before finishing her sentence by saying the nickname shyly. He was so used to normally hearing the name that it never bothered him, and hearing his family call him that gave him a strange exciting feeling that could only come from a close bond he shared with them. So, he was shocked to find that he felt a similar feeling stir in his heart when she suddenly called him by his nickname.

Blinking in surprise, he thought, “W-What the heck is this feeling? Eh? Am I really feeling this from Raze? Huh?! Are you kidding me?!”

“We don’t need a tenth member in the family,” commented Asura in a serious voice.

“I’m well aware of that!” Lakshman replied in his mind in a firm voice. “There’s no way I’m going to cheat on my wives!”

“What’s the matter? You look flustered,” Raze asked him in a curious voice.

“N-Nothing at all!” He said, becoming momentarily startled before quickly saying, “I-I’m just surprised that you’d be interested in training. How about you, Erza?” Lakshman asked, quickly turning his attention to her in order to divert the topic.

She shook her head and serenely said, “Sorry, but I’m not really cut out to fight, so I will watch from the sidelines.”

Once again, he was surprised by this strange turn of events and wondered, “What’s going on? Was Erza like this? She’s so… less battle spirited than the Erza that I remember! I mean, she voluntarily participates in battles, so what the heck is with this lack of interest?”

Having no answer to his question, he could only sigh and listen to the second prince say, “I’m here to train and keep an eye on all of you because father fears something bad will happen,” and he threw a suspicious look at Lakshman.

This made Lakshman chuckle and reply with, “That’s understandable, but I’m not a villain though.”

“You can never be too careful about your surroundings,” said Santa vaguely, but they knew he was indirectly pointing at Lakshman.

Bolten clapped his hands together and said, “Anyway, let’s go! We got till lunchtime for us to fully train ourselves!”

With that, he turned around and walked at the front while everyone else followed him from behind while being escorted by a few Royal Guards. They walked in silence for several minutes and turned a few corners in the castle before arriving at a pair of stairs that went downward. When Gram stepped on the stairs, it immediately began to move downward in a slow steady motion that surprised the heroes.

“Wow! An escalator!” Vikram said, who was the first to immediately recognize what it was.

“What the heck is this thing?” William asked, looking hesitant to step on the descending steps.

“Ah jeez! Just step on it and relax! It’ll take you down without an issue!” Vikram said firmly.

“You say that but… it’s… strange…” muttered William, hanging back with a nervous look on his face.

“Man…! Just one step! Go!” Vikram said, nearly shoving him from behind.

“Don’t push me!” William shouted in fright.

Even so, he moved forward bravely and stepped on one of the flat surfaces, instantly feeling his feet being dragged forward. He let out a yell and almost lost balance, but he forcefully used his strength to straighten his body and stand firmly on the moving stairs. Once he was set, he opened his eyes wide in surprise and looked around in amazement.

“Wow…! Wow! T-This is… so weird…!” He said in a quiet voice while looking around with a sudden excitement that he never knew he still had in him. “This feels so strange…! I’m moving without actually moving!”

“Why are you so surprised at the tiniest thing?” Vikram asked, who stepped on the moving stairs right behind him.

“W-What do you expect from a guy that came from a war-torn world?” The Titanium Hero asked back, clearly irritated about the unreasonable expectation from his comrade. “After being at the front lines and almost dying so many times, this is my first time witnessing new things… strange things… things that are actually… interesting!”

“Oh,” said the Sonic Hero, realizing he had been a little forceful in his expectation from William and felt sorry for him.

“It’s a nice chance to enjoy this new state of life we’re living in,” said Fred from behind in a cheerful voice.

“Good point because we may never experience this once we return to our original worlds,” added Ward as an afterthought.

“Yes. You’re right,” said William, nodding in understanding and smiling as he decided to enjoy what he can while he lived in this world.

A minute later, all of them had descended to the bottom floor and gathered near Boltern, who turned to face them and spread his hand around while saying, “Welcome, heroes, to the Arena of Solitude!”