They made almost no sound as they dived into the river ad continued the journey by swimming. Fraser continued to look into the distance like he was oblivious to what was happening around him. It also became clear as to why Randell and his men dived into the water, because barely a few seconds after they did that, the mirror-like barrier began to vanish right before Fraser's eyes.The vanishing barrier was so subtle that from Fraser's point of view, it did not register as something that was happening, and this in turn meant that Fraser still made no reactions to it.This act, however, only lasted until a few moments after the barrier vanished. Fraser did not turn to look as you would expect he would if he noticed something out of place, instead, in the limited visibility of the night, the corner of his lips raised as they portrayed a sinister smile."I'll be happy to play, now that you have chosen punishment", he muttered under his breath, low enough that it was basically a thought.On

Time passed and everything went through the natural rounds as they were expected to. The arcanas hunted, gained points, and spent them to improve themselves.It was getting close to the time the raid was supposed to begin; the trial of the ruins. As they got close to the eighth week that had been scheduled, the tension in all their minds was palpable. None of them had any idea what the ruin would be like but were full of anticipation for its arrival.This was the situation until the day that things began to change in preparation for the first ruin opening… The first change was bizarre, to say the least, however, it was very understandable.No one had any control over it as they vanished from wherever they were in the world. This was simply like a blur across their faces as they vanished and opened their eyes to see themselves standing somewhere in the central city. Everyone who had been deposited in the central city quickly found that they were not alone in this as they looked left an

"You have no idea how much trouble you are in, do you?", he asked Raven."I could say the same to you"', Raven fired back immediately.For a moment all eyes flashed between the noble, Raven, as well as the two who stood like they were frozen in the middle of the room."What are you babbling…?", the noble beganHe did not finish that statement because he froze before he finished that statement. So did many others at that moment, as they watched Aiden step away from Saeron, unharmed, unruffled, and unbothered by the situation he walked into.The noble's face turned bright red as he felt the instant embarrassment from his previous statements that called for Raven to apologize… Right before all their eyes, Saeron's arm dropped to his side as simply face-dived soon after. He had passed out with only the whites of his eyes showing.At that moment, there was a word that flashed through the minds of many who watched the fight. It had ended in an instant, leaving almost no one with any proper

Aiden sat up while Raven stared straight into their eyes. She did not back off and her first statement made the crowd fall silent almost immediately."Well, we won", she said right to their face.This made their expressions cross, however, they had nothing to say to this. Raven did not care about this reaction as she continued speaking."We will be back to collect. We all need artifacts to bind. I'm sure you also notice that he did not use a fighting technique, so there is that option to collect as well"As she finished this statement, Aiden stood up and they walked back into the restaurant. They found the sit in the restaurant, leaving the members of the council of nobles to find their way out of the dilemma that had been created.Aiden chose not to speak to any of them. He still had the cross expression on his face as he sat down and laid his head on the table. As a fourth-order arcana now, he still found it difficult to win a fight easily against someone at his level. He had used t

"So, what…?", she asked.For a moment, the tension in the air increased dramatically. The three girls looked at Eleanor at the same time, their thoughts going through the implications of this statement. Eloise and Aiden were the only people who remained unfazed at that moment. They both looked at Princess Eleanor, but their expressions remained neutral.Deirdre was about to speak, but Diane gestured for her not to as she asked Aiden a simple question…"Should we leave?", she directed her question at him.Aiden looked up at Diane for a moment before he turned back to look at Princess Eleanor and spoke. This he did as he slowly stood up from his seat…"Your highness, as I told you from the beginning, I already have teammates, and we will be exploring the island ruin as a party. So, I appreciate the fact that you came to invite me yourself, unfortunately, I must decline your offer", he said.After saying this, he stepped away from the table and followed Diane, Raven, and Deirdre as they