"Future investment. What does that weird man mean by that?" asked Matilda.
"Who knows? We should just be glad that we are alive and we are all so lucky, especially Damian. "
"Now then, are you going to tell us what exactly happened to you these past two weeks and who these two are?" said Milo as he pointed at Clay and Kong.
However, before Damian could answer, Clay, who was extremely fatigued, stood up and seemed to be planning to leave.
"I have repaid you and now there is nothing between us. Next time we meet, we will be enemies and you have some capable friends, but I will still surpass you all," stated Clay before walking away.
Clay needed to return to the academy quickly knowing that he was going to be in serious trouble for his abrupt exiting of the academy during the hectic time that the city and country were in.
Milo was annoyed by Clay's attitude and what he said, but before he could go up to start a fight with him, Damian got him to calm down.
Damian had reached rank 5 both internally and externally, but his power seemed to surpass that greatly, while he also seemed to have gained a beast pet and made a lot of enemies.
His friends couldn't help but be curious about what exactly had happened over the past two weeks.
Bombarded with their questions, Damian began explaining exactly what had happened to him over the past two weeks, but skipped out anything to do with Utsusu, his true capabilities and that of Kong.
It's not that he didn't trust them, which he did, especially after they put their lives on the line to fight for him, but it was merely because he wanted to keep them as his trump cards.
Something he was planning to only reveal if there was no other choice.
After hearing everything he had done, seen and experienced over the past two weeks, everything that was occurring in the city and country started to make sense.
They then went on to tell him everything that was happening and why they had only just been able to come and look for him.
After one week of Damian being gone from the academy, they believed that he was still fine and was merely completing a mission, but after a few more days passed, they tried to leave the academy in order to go after him.
They had a bad feeling about Damian being gone for so long, especially with all the rumours they were hearing about the conflict between the two large academies, while they were also confident in Damian's capabilities and that he should have returned by then.
They weren't allowed to leave the academy, while they also weren't missions that would take them to the same area that Damian had gone to, since he had taken all the available missions in that particular area.
They had tried multiple different ways to go after Damian, but the guards were instructed not to let anyone else out of the academy without permission from an elder or the great elder.
The academy was in a state of lockdown, and they had no choice but to visit the great elder.
They were initially refused entry, but they said that they were Damian's friends and were willing to fight their way into the library that was guarded by powerful cultivators until they met with the great elder.
Sensing the commotion, the great elder came out to see what was occurring and remembered them from the class with Soul Spirits that entered the academy at the same time as Damian.
They stated they were worried about Damian and they were sure that he would have been back after a single week, just like he had said to them.
The great elder coldly said that there was nothing he could do about it as he couldn't personally leave the academy and he also couldn't spare any manpower to send out to search for Damian in the situation they were in.
Conflict between the two academies could arise at any moment, and the great elder reassured them that he was confident that Damian was fine.
However, despite the great elder's words, Milo angrily and disrespectfully went up to the great elder's face and said that if he was unwilling to allow them to look for Damian himself, he would leave the academy and never return.
Milo was usually unintentionally disrespectful, but he was clearly angry and it was routed out of worry and care for Damian.
The others also stood by Milo and the guards were about to strike them down for disrespect and intent to harm a senior figure within the academy, but the great elder laughed and told the guards to back off and return to their duties.
The great elder was impressed by their resolve and care for Damian, so truthfully admitted to them that he was worried about Damian and that he had been involved in a conflict with the royal academy students.
It was stated that he had killed one student, while another was fatally wounded and wouldn't be able to continue cultivating.
He trusted Damian and knew his character was just, but also not willing to submit to anyone, so what was said was likely to be true and the description matched Damian.
Although he didn't want to leave Damian to fend for himself, his hands were tied and there was nothing he could do as his actions could affect the entire academy and country.
After receiving his explanation of why the academy was in a state of lockdown and why he truly couldn't send anyone to retrieve Damian, they were still unwilling to sit by idly.
It merely made them worry even more for Damian's safety, as they knew that he would never back down from anyone and was likely to be targeted by the Royal Academy.
After going back and forth with the great elder, seeing how desperate they were to go after Damian and also sensing how capable they seemed, he allowed them to leave, and they managed to find Damian in the nick of time.