18 It is time for you to leave

"I am sure you have a rough idea of why I called you seven here, don't you?" Liam said with a serious tone as he leaned forward towards the desk.

"Pretty much." The six beside Leo nodded, as he replied nonchalantly while maintaining eye contact with Liam.

"I have made arrangements for you seven to study at the Arch Qi Academy. The first year students are going to start their classes within two to three weeks. It's time you guys leave or else you might not arrive on time."

"The Arch Qi Academy of the city Arcadia, also known as the 'First Academy', because it is the first Academy that was built to teach control over Qi. But why the 'First Academy'? Why not the 'Second Academy' or 'The Third' or 'The Fourth' in the three other directions?" Leo knew full well that the man in front of him wouldn't do things without a reason.

"Because it is close to our city Mr.Leo, and I can summon you if anything happens. Besides that, I have some good friends there."

"Fine, Lord Liam. We will get ready to depart right away." Leo was about to turn around and leave, but stopped on hearing Liam say something.

"Wait, just a minute." Liam snapped his fingers which made Rachael who was in the corner of the room to approach the seven. She handed a unique gold coin and a badge with a sword imprinted on it to each of the seven. It was the kingdom's flag on the badge along with a letter 'L' below it, and the seven had no idea what the peculiar gold coin was for.

"That badge is proof that you are acquainted with me and give that gold coin to a man named Ramsay in the Norion Bank there. He will open an account for you seven. I already sent a little amount of money for a start."

"You can leave now. Safe journey young lads." Liam got up from his chair and nodded at the seven who bowed a bit, to show their respect towards him.

The seven didn't have much to pack, only a few clothes that were given to them for the journey. And as soon as they packed their luggage, they were greeted by Rachael who escorted them to a royal cart accompanied by two dozen soldiers and four knights on horses, along with a cart in the front and back. They were filled with some boxes with a royal seal imprinted on them.

"This does look cool, but it feels as if we are being pretentious." Leo said with a detesting tone.

"The road to the academy is filled with monsters, demons and highway thieves, Young Master. We can't risk your life just because you feel pretentious." Rachael replied calmly as she opened the door to the cart.

'This is still an overkill!' Leo and the rest shouted in their minds as they got inside the cart.

"Safe journey Young Masters and Young Madams, Farewell." Rachael closed the door gently and as soon as she did, the knights nodded at each other and set out at a good pace. In no time the convoy exited the city gates and rode into the same forest they were once summoned at.

-----------------------------------

"And? What did you find out Alan?" Rex was standing behind glass walls as he observed a busy city.

"I got good news. Haha." Alan smiled a bit embarrassed.

"And bad new, right?"

"Yeah." He said awkwardly.

"Let me guess, they are inside the kingdom but you don't know where. Is that it?"

"You should work as an astrologer Rex. Cause you are damn right on spot!" Alan jumped on to the sofa near Rex as he said those words.

"So what now?" And in a split second, Alan's face turned as serious as it could as he inquired their next step.

"We don't need to worry as long as they are in the kingdom. They will show themselves soon enough." Rex relaxed as he sat down on a fancy chair.

"If you say so. I will keep on looking for them then, catch you later Rex." Alan disappeared from the room almost instantly.

-----------------------------------

"Ah! I think I am going to go crazy sitting in this cart." Erina yelled out of nowhere in a silent cart which woke up Clint and Reeva who were sleeping soundly. The group has been travelling for two days and still had at least five more days of journey to endure, even if they continued at the same pace.

"Just calm down! That almost gave me a heart attack, oh god." Reeva yelled back at Erina who was pouting as hard as she could. It was already dark and the group was getting slowly until Erina decided to ruin it.

"Let's stop here and camp in for today, Mr.Hiro" Leo opened the window and called out to the knight beside the cart who nodded at him before signalling the other knights and soldiers. The soldiers took turns in staying guard at the night while the rest slept soundly. It had been the same for the past two nights until tonight.

Time: 1:47 AM

'Hmm..' Leo woke up in a daze for some reason, only to see the four knights staring at the same spot into the forest while the soldiers held their spears pointed towards the same direction.

"Hey, get up. I said 'get up'!" Leo whispered slowly waking up the rest of the gang. The rest of the six slowly woke up and rubbed their eyes, trying to see what the fuss was about.

"Well, how many do you sense Raj?" Hiro asked without any traces of panic on his face same as the faces of the other three knights, and in contrast to that of the soldiers who were sweating profoundly.

"It's a pack of seven Hiro." Raj answered calmly, who was another knight like Hiro.

"I am sorry Young Masters and Young Madams, were we too loud?" Hiro's eyes seemed to apologetic as he said those words.

"What's the problem Mr.Hiro?" Leo's words were a bit tense as he stared at the four knights.

"Not a problem, just a pack of seven demon wolves Young, Master Leo. No need to worry, we will take care of it in a minute, sir. You can go back to sleep, Young Master." Hiro said with a smile and a slight bow.

'Go back to sleep? Are you kidding me? How can I go to sleep after knowing that there are seven big demon wolves ready to eat our ass out.' Leo wanted to shout out loud but refrained himself. He tried to calm down but his heartbeat rose rapidly as he saw a huge demonic grey wolf, jump out of the bushes at Hiro who was bowing at him.