"Ugh... I feel weird."
Those were the first words that left Arin's mouth as soon as he opened his eyes.
"Chaos! Ah, finally."
Before Arin could even react, Tessa suddenly hugged him while he was still lying on the bed.
Her hair covered his already hidden face entirely.
"Hey, Tessa... I'm fine," Arin said, holding her shoulders and slowly pushing her away.
Her hair was tickling his eyes and it made him feel uncomfortable.
"Brother, you got us all worried," Leon said, walking towards Arin and giving him a slap on his chest.
Riya just kept staring at Arin, her expression unknown because of her mask.
"Oh? How long was I unconscious?" Arin asked as he removed his mask.
But before Leon could even say anything...
Arin turned his head to look at who just spoke, and behold, it was Ethan.
'Shit... I totally forgot about him...'
Riya, Tessa, and Leon already knew his face, but Ethan was yet to see his face.
And apart from that, him and Ethan had once fought in the first stage of the tournament.
And well, Ethan still had a grudge with that one guy.
Before Arin could even say anything, Ethan rushed towards him and grabbed his cloak, yanking him forward.
"You! You're that guy who ran away with the flag! Hmph, let's settle this now. I won't accept defeat!"
Numerous questions were currently running through Ethan's mind, and he wanted to ask Arin all of them now.
His cousin, or sister like he liked to call her, had already told him before that this Chaos guy was a human who got turned into a Vampire, and was able to still retain his humanity.
But who would've thought that the guy he fought with in the tournament was Chaos?
"Hey, Ethan. I think you should calm down," Leon said, flashing a smile that said "everything is okay."
Tessa's gaze had already sharpened as she glared at Ethan.
"Ethan, I know you're shocked right now, but I highly suggest that you get your hands off him..."
Ethan stared at Tessa as he gritted his teeth.
He then averted his gaze to Riya whose shoulders were moving up and down, making it quite obvious that she was secretly chuckling.
As for Arin himself, he really had nothing to say. He just smiled wryly while scratching the back of his neck.
'Well, there's no issue, though,' he thought. 'I was already planning to show him my face soon enough.'
Arin already knew that this was the reaction Ethan would have when he showed him his face, so he wasn't too surprised.
Even after hearing what Tessa said, Ethan still didn't let go of Arin's cloak.
Arin raised a brow. "Alright, that's enough," he muttered.
Suddenly, he raised his right hand, and gripped Ethan's hand.
Ethan's eyes widened a bit.
'Too strong...' he thought.
Arin's grip was too strong for Ethan to handle.
Before he knew it, his hand began moving backwards as Arin pushed it. Finally, his hand left Arin's cloak.
Arin stared at Ethan. "You should try to relax. Seeing my face doesn't change anything.
"If anything, it'll make us able to work together better and increase our familiarity."
"He's right," Riya said as she folded her arms. "It'll benefit you at the end of the day."
Ethan's gaze became distant for a second as he began thinking.
After a few seconds, he looked at Arin.
"You said you'll be able to help me and my sister, right?"
"Correct," Arin replied shortly, his voice and gaze firm and unwavering.
Ethan sighed. "But since I joined you, nothing related to our motive has happened. Heck, we don't even know where Alex is."
Arin smiled as he moved his head to the right and left, making a light creak sound.
"Patience, Ethan... Patience. Do you think we'll just rush towards Alex every single time? We're talking about someone who can control all the Elements and even has a 'certain' power that I'm sure you already know about from your sister."
Ethan squinted his eyes.
"Don't worry," Arin added. "We're heading there. And also, who said I don't know where Alex is? In fact, your sister, Tessa, and Leon also knows where he is."
Ethan instantly turned to look at Riya. "Is that true?"
Ethan sighed again. "Alright, I'll trust you. But if I see that things aren't making any progress, I'll leave on my own."
Arin nodded. "Agreed. You ca—"
"WHAT THE HELL???!!!!"
Tessa and Leon suddenly shouted at the same time, alerting Ethan and Arin.
"What is it?!" Arin asked hastily, his brows furrowed.
But as soon as his eyes scrutinized everyone, he instantly understood why they screamed.
While he was talking with Ethan, a certain someone decided to remove her mask.
Riya smiled as she stared at Leon and Tessa.
Tessa's eyes were currently widened like a person who just saw the most shocking thing in the world.
As for Leon, different thoughts were already running through his head, but among those thoughts, one was dominant.
'So... I've been flirting with my teacher...?'
Leon didn't know how, but his legs just began moving on its own.
Slowly... Slowly... Stealthily.
He kept moving backwards, heading towards Arin.
And as soon as he got closer to Arin, he suddenly jumped on the bed, arriving behind Arin.
His eyes were filled with fear as he stared at Riya who was also staring at him with a smile.
But Leon knew that it definitely wasn't a normal smile.
And because of that...
"Brother, no matter what, promise me that you'll protect me with your life..." He whispered into Arin's ears.
Arin sighed as he massaged his temples.
"Leon, don't worry, she won't harm you. Yeah... she might just give you a light tap on the head, but I'm sure that'll be all."
Leon's expression instantly changed as he hit Arin's back.
"Huh?! What the hell do you mean by a light tap? Don't you know how fierce Miss Riya is? She might ev—"
Leon kept blabbing to Arin about how Riya might kill him while Ethan was just listening, wondering if his sister was really that fierce.
She wasn't scared or anything like that.
She was just shocked.
"S-so, you're telling me that the lady who approached me in the Academy's forest and the lady who I've been with in this village for days now is... Miss Riya...?"
She just couldn't quite believe it, but it was real.
"Well... Surprise..." Riya said as she spread her arms out as if she was revealing a surprise.
But this was more of a shocker than a surprise.
"Uhm... How... Why... Like, how..."
Tessa had numerous questions, but she didn't even know where to start from.
Riya smiled. "Don't worry, Tessa. When we're alone, you can ask me all the questions you have."
Tessa just nodded instinctively, unsure of what to say.
After that, they told Arin what transpired after he fell unconscious.
How Fang was about to remove his mask, but they thought she wanted to harm him, and so they stopped her.
And also how she was now even more curious and suspicious about his appearance.
They also told him how they carried his unconscious body and used Leon's portal to leave the forest and appear directly next to the building in order to avoid the jubilating soldiers.
"So, the villagers haven't seen us since the battle against the Beast Tide ended. But we're very sure that they know that we're here. Maybe they just don't want to disturb us," Ethan said.
Arin nodded in understanding. "At least, they recognized our help and want to thank us."
"Also," Ethan continued, "what really made you fall unconscious? You still haven't told us."
They all saw the glow that came from Arin's back when he was waking up and they were all curious about it and suspected that it was part of what made him fall unconscious.
Arin and Riya's eyes instantly locked, and as usual, they both instantly understood each other.
Riya's eyes read: "Is it something you want to keep secret for now?"
Arin couldn't help but smile slightly. Riya wanted to know if it was something he wanted to keep secret for now, so that she would somehow come up with an excuse for him and change the topic.
Arin shook his head in response.
He wasn't planning on keeping every single thing about him a secret.
"Huh?" Ethan and Leon muttered at the same time.
"A Raven made you fall unconscious?" Tessa asked curiously.
At the end, Arin explained everything to them.
How he stole the Raven from Alex, and how he had been trying to communicate with it ever since, but it was to no avail.
Eventually, he was able to communicate with it today.
"The fact that you stole from Alex is a slight reassurance that you really are against him. That's good to know," Ethan said.
"Wait... Bazooka!? What kind of name is that? And what the hell is a Bazooka in the first place?!" Leon roared.
"Woah! I would love to see the Raven," Tessa said, her eyes sparkling.
She added, "and the name is so lovely. It sounds like the name of a food."
Arin just shook his head. 'A food, huh? Inhabitants of Earth would be slightly furious if they heard that.'
Well, it was time to leave the room, and face the jubilating villagers, as well as Fang.
But apart from that...
'Hmm, system notifications?'