Zephyr started getting confused on what was going on and why his grandfather was so adamant on bringing him to this location. There was only a marsh they had to traverse among the lush forest and there was nothing of importance awaiting them when they arrived. All that was there was a massive gate with a beautiful huge green jewel on the middle of it covered by thick trees and a monster of a man!

The Duke had noticed Zephyr's confusion and turned to him and explained the situation.

"See boy, all around the world in random places, rifts occur. These are very rare but when they do happen, something miraculous always follows. Of course these rifts are not noticeable easily and advanced study is needed to hypothesize where they will appear if they do exist. However, two years ago while a disturbance happened in this forest, my other son Faust reported to me a peculiar report which after looking into it myself, had concludedthat it was a rift. See, these rifts are connections to the spirit world as they are kind of like entrances. However, they do have limits and barriers to them which halts anyone above a certain age or level from entering. People believe it is normally for kids the spirit world favor and loves thus the rewards given out are special, especially since the known ones to appear out of a rift all became major characters when they grew up."

"So there's a spirit world entrance here that can give me blessings, awesome!" Zephyr immediately got motivated and ready for his new adventure upon hearing this. It was like a pie falling from the sky!

"Yes but remember this is the spirit world your entering, take care to always keep your guard up. I was planning on giving this to Siegmund but this may actually prove to be the better choice, after all, it will  disappear after single use and it seems as if its already been breached." With that, the Duke ended his lengthy explanation.

"Hehe, leave it to me gramps to collect everything I see!" Zephyr hooted when Shelly came out on its own volition and joined in with the noise.

"Also, apparently some prestigious kid is here, try not to contest each other to much as it is typically better as a stage for more opportunities, not a stage for a death match." The Duke warned lightly.

"Got it." Zephyr nodded in understanding.

The pair and monkey made their way towards the man and the gate. The Duke had all his attention on the man but Zephyr's was too the gate, as if something was calling him there. A yearning to enter was emanating from somewhere in him and his purple eyes started turning brighter subconsciously.

The gate responded in kind and it started glowing and a gem hidden beneath all the lush trees shone the brightest and shot a ray at Zephyr that destroyed all traces of him and Shelly from the vicinity.

The Duke relaxed and finally was able to ease himself back into his previous mood. What he truly feared wasn't the man himself, but that the man would ruthlessly cut down a child.

"So, you are a member of the beast tribe deep in the forest? I've heard terrifying things as of late, like clan wars and wildfires." The Duke spoke with a light tone, as if belittling their strenuous situation.

"Hmph, that's none of your concern, the King issued an order for me and the young Prince to head here after sending something. The Prince went in not long ago, they may even encounter each other." He looked towards Duke Reinhardt and spoke coldly once again.

"I pray he doesn't produce any grievances which would be cause for me to raise my hand."

"Hmph, you think you can do anything you want because you see an old man and a child, I dare you to try something." The Duke's temper erupted and his aura ignited, shaking the land beneath their feet.

"I sensed your power long ago, that is the only reason I did not prevent the boy's entry, it is mere folly to underestimate an opponent. I will be glad to show you a glimpse of my power."

This horned man was also not backing down and the area looked extremely tense as both their aura's kept increasing.

Finally the Duke summoned a ball and chain around him and his muscles exploded out of his clothes as he started spinning his weapon. Slowly the ball was getting bigger and bigger until it completely eclipsed everything in its sheer size.

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The horned man finally showed some emotion as he raised an arm and yelled for the old Duke to calm down.

"You fool! Swing that and you might destroy the structure housing the young master and the boy, have you no sense!?!?" The man roared madly.

The Duke showed his teeth in a wide smile and still unhesitatingly threw it towards the man. The man roared and transformed with a glowing light and that's just when the ball made contact with his body.

"Hmm? It stopped? Whew, you must have some body." The Duke whistled as he looked on to the damage he caused, his eyes were widened when he saw the spectacle in front of him. There was a six meter tall bear in golden armor hugging a massive ball and chain. The bear had handled the weight of the ball using only its body and was still standing proudly.

"Do you not care for the boy, for all we know they could be lost if anything happened to the entrance." The bear snarled while panting, trying to contain his anger and stay rational.

"I was just checking to see how loyal you are to your master, granted you proved me wrong, you have my apologies." The Duke bowed his head in apology. The bear just growled and looked away, the air grew silent and awkward.

Meanwhile inside the gate, a whole new world was revealed to Zephyr. The energy flying around was so dense and majestic Zephyr felt stronger just standing there. As he looked around he saw a magical place around him, it was like the forest he was just in but somehow the place felt more mystical. The grass were greener and the trees were bulkier, but Zephyr couldn't smile.

"ROAR!!"

"KAAW!"

"GRAAAAAA!!"

He saw rows upon rows of birds of different kinds flying in the sky, blotting out the sun. Huge stampedes occurring in the landscape in front of him and roars being emitted everywhere that shook the sky itself.

The aura's being emitted from some of the monsters were even bearing down on the far distant Zephyr and crushing him.

"What....is this?" Zephyr had to take a kneel, gasping for air when sensing the power and difference between this world and his, thus it took quite a while to acclimate to his surroundings.

There was a change in scenery every couple of meters and the lands were completely different once explored as if the elements were left to their own devices.

The mystical beauty of the world had swept Zephyr off his feet for a minute. However, the surprises weren't over when all of a sudden a pillar of green light descended on Zephyr and the energy around him started uncontrollably being sucked into him, with some also being sucked into Shelly which was causing another transformation in the monkey.

"Is this a, a breakthrough!?!? I haven't left stage six student in a long time but the abundance of energy, isn't this something my brother would have, a stage nine student? What's going on? Huh, Shelly!" By his side, Shelly was transforming back into its two meter form and looked to be in agony when the black book appeared and sucked Shelly into it, calming the situation while glowing a bright purple. Zephyr was completely confused by the situation and before he could make heads or tails of what was going on, he felt himself be warped once again.

He landed in a mountain range with dirt all over his body, adjacent to him was a dark entrance to the cave that looked completely dangerous.

"Uhh, I think I'll look for treasure elsewhere." Zephyr tried leaving the area but every time he left five meters in any direction opposite the entrance, he would appear right back where he started.

"Argh! Fine, I'll do it, bring it on!" Zephyr yelled to get himself excited and charged into the entrance. There he saw Mountain Lion's with flames as their manes that were seemingly guarding the entrance.

They made eye contact and both parties blankly stared at each other for a couple minutes when the Lions started snarling and leapt towards him. Zephyr went into his battle stance and charged forward planning on striking a lethal blow.

With his hands like claws, Zephyr quickly sliced the flesh off the first lion in front of him but it was not that deep of a wound and a paw quickly made contact with his back which caused a deep gash.

Zephyr groaned and rolled to avoid the incoming full weight of the Lion. He then quickly jumped to his feet ready for round two.

"About 14 of them? Yikes." Zephyr thought but nevertheless still ran forward to do as much damage as he could. The way Renault taught Zephyr wasn't a strict martial arts technique and standard, he taught him to fight with his instincts and develop their own path to tread. Renault didn't want to waste any of his son's potential so he left them to their own devices on techniques.

Thus the combat style Zephyr developed and abused on the kids at school was his self made 'Assault Arts'. These were moves mainly used for takedowns or knockouts in small bursts, he didn't develop any lethal techniques yet since he was still a child. However, being trapped in this life and death situation, he quickly adapted and fixed his attacks to more precise locations.

What used to be attacks with his fists aimed at the nose was now palms going for the Lion's temple. After taking another three claws to his arms and shoulders, Zephyr was able to dispatch two of the fifteen but was slowly being forced into a retreating position.

"How am I supposed to win, they all look to be stage three disciples, and this pain!" While Zephyr was whining, another two lions jumped at him which he adeptly dodged but this put him in a position near some of the other Lions.

Around three Lion's near the back also got up and pounced forward with their mouths opened and their manes grew fiercer as they blew extreme flames from their mouths.

As if to protect its master, the black book appeared and a purple ray was emitted which covered Zephyr amidst the raging embers.