Amir's POV:
"What?!" Marcus said,
"Yes! They know you, this guy named Makoto told us that Louison and Corpiones were not just looking for the stone but they also looking for you."
As soon as they arrived, we didn't hold back and told them right after.
"Why are they looking for me?" He confused uttered.
"That's what we are asking for, bakit kilala ka nila at hinahanap ka?" LI responded.
"Are you hiding something from us, Marcus?" I uttered, arching my brows and side-eyeing Marcus who was just beside me.
He reacted by shrugging off his shoulders, chilled.
"Do I have something to hide? If you still don't trust me, then it's not my problem anymore," He uttered side-eyeing back at me.
I turned at him.
"Then tell me about your clan, the Maximo Clan."
"Okay," He shortly replied.
He walked towards the round table nearby leaned his arms back and sat.
"The Maximo Clan has been the dominant name for over eighty years, yes, longer than Estelle's and Fuego's. Maximo Clan, together with Estelle and Fuego has been leading the warriors of the realm. The frontlines of every war. My grandfather; Limuel Maximo and my father, Malvar Maximo have been touring around Valiré; the land of demons for twenty years ago, — "
I was shocked when he mentioned Valiré and its family touring around it.
"What!?" I uttered in shock.
"Chill. Let me finish this first, okay?!"
" — They have been touring to find a Druids in the Valiré to expel the curse that was put in this realm, the Dark Curse. The curse hasn't revealed itself until now, the realm is safe, yet, they need to find someone that could remove the curse as soon as possible, and the Druids are capable of it. A high-ranking priest with the ability to affect supernatural change and cast incantations. They are hard to find, the reason that my dad and grandpa had reached the edge of Alvenrass; the Valiré. That's when they meet this lady named Louison, yes, the one you fought earlier. They have battled with her despite being powerless and relying only on their instinct and raw strength. Then, in the middle of their battle, my dad mentioned the dark curse and that's when Louison stopped and reacted to it. She said that the dark curse was one of the most powerful curses in Alvenrass and one of her siblings possessed that kind of curse, the dark curse. She added that despite the dark curse being powerful, it is still beatable by strong mana. That's us! The Offspring of Power. Unfortunately, my grandpa died at that time and only my father survived and escaped the death of his own. After that, Maximo Clan, Estelle, and Fuego Clan left the Ministry of Realm under the rule of King Amadon."
"So, It was ordered by the King?" I asked.
"Yes, that's why our clan left the ministry. It was killing us," Marcus uttered. Walk towards me with deep stares.
"Your family was killing us," He said, I clenched my fist as I was about to punch him and Cleb intervened.
"Woah! Chill lang tayo dito," Cleb uttered, intervened by standing between us.
"But, why did they know your name?" I emitted.
"I don't know, maybe Dad introduced me to Louison." He replied.
"To conclude this, walang kaalam-alam si Marcus kung bakit siya kilala nito, maybe, Marcus is right na baka pinakilala siya or nabanggit ng ama niya ang pangalan ni Marcus noong panahong iyon. For me lang ha! Baka gagamitin lang nila si Marcus sa paghahanap ng Neelam, which is hindi naman nila alam kung sino at ano ang mukha ni Marcus dahil pangalan lang ang alam nila." Li uttered.
"At least, they didn't know me, physically speaking. They just know my name. That's it!" He uttered.
Our gazes meet with each other.
"Okay, as you say so! But still, I can't trust you!" I uttered.
"I know! But Li and Cleb do trust me, right?" Marcus said.
I turned my gaze at Li and Cleb. They just give a contact, which seems they do trust Marcus.
"Okay. Not what should we do? The Bhaltair has a lot of casualties. The people, the resources, and the colonial house. It's a lot to recover," I said.
"The Palace will help naman siguro, right?" Li uttered, looking at me.
"I think so? Nexus was temporarily in charge of the palace," I said.
"Nexus was training here at the Bhaltair, right? I don't know if his training workshop has been done. But it seems like it is because I couldn't find him here," Marcus said.
"I'm going back to the palace," I said.
They both looked at me, emotionless.
"But, what about this?" Marcus said.
"Our missions done here! At least, we were able to threaten them and leave Bhaltair." I said.
"But, what about the Stone Gate?" Li uttered.
Stone Gate wasn't our mission at all.
"Eh, hindi naman natin misyon 'yun, eh! Bakit naman tayo pupunta 'dun?" Cleb responded.
"Ano, papasanin natin ang kaligtasan ng Haiyan? Eh, meron naman tayong mandirigma dito, oh!?" He urged.
Cleb was right. Our mission was to save Bhaltair from those Demon Children.
"He's right!" I added.
"Our mission is done here, I'll go back to Qill Palace and ask for emergency assistance for the casualties here. Let's just pack things up and help them before we leave. The war at the Stone Gate was not ours and we don't need to intervene," I uttered.
"No!" Li urged.
I glance at him. I was startled when he forcefully slapped his hands on the table.
"You go back to the Palace and request emergency assistance. I'll stay here and assist them, I'll ask for more, while Marcus and Cleb will go to the Stone Gate!" He uttered, It looked like he constructed a plan already.
"Huh? Aano kami 'dun, Li?" Cleb asked.
Li glared at him.
"Kausapin niyo, obvious ba?!" sarcastically uttered.
"Why will we do that, huh?" Marcus uttered with arms over his chest.
"Try to stop them or talk with them, those bandits are not bandits. They don't want war, hindi sila magnanakaw, alam niyo ba 'yon? Kukunin lang nila kung ano ang dapat sa kanila. At 'yon ay nasa loob ng Stone Gate." Li uttered.
He speaks with his mind. He didn't stutter when he wanted to urge his thoughts.

"Then, we'll split up! I'm going back to the Qill Palace to ask for assistance and see if the King is back, Li, you'll stay here to help them assist, Cleb and Marcus — you know your job!" I concluded.
Cleb and Marcus gaze at each other and shrugs their shoulders and arches their lip as if they have no choice at all. I was about to flee when I realized something...

The Palace was too far away from Bhaltair! This would take days to arrive at the Palace; walking or by transportation.
I turned around at them, scratching my head off.
"Uhm, the Palace was too far from here..."
"...and..."
Agape. Waiting for me to utter.
"Who has...teleportation magic?" I asked.
They both looked at each other and giggled.
"So that it would be faster for me to ask for help, right?! I'm not saying that I'm lazy or what... But, yeah... who has...teleportation magic?" I stood up for it. Then, felt shy.
"None of us," Marcus responded.
"Sige na, Prinsipe Amir. Maglakad ka na lang! Kaya mo na 'yan! Hayaan mo, magkaka-teleportation din ako" Li uttered shooing me away and pushing my back.
"But it's too far!" I grumbled. I heard Marcus and Cleb giggle. I tilted my head at them and glared at them, then acted like nothing, whistling.
"Bilis!"
...
Then, suddenly, we saw a portal emerged. The portal was familiar, there we saw someone step out of the portal, and to our delight, we saw Master Ki Bou. We walk towards him, and he's not alone; Mill, Niala, and Lusaka are with him. Also, the medical assistant arrived following at the back. We were surprised.
"Master Ki Bou!" Li uttered in delight and walked towards Lusaka and hugged his sister.
The medical assistant and some of the patrol guards arrived at the scene and helped with the casualties.
"I know this would happen. That's why we came to help you," He said. Gazing around the village.
"Hays, Salamat at dumating ka sa tamang oras, Master Ki Bou!" Cleb uttered in relief.
"Yeah, it would be harder for us if we do it on our own," Marcus added.
He looked at us like he was judging us.
"The four of you, follow me!" He uttered, walking away.
We followed after him.
"Master Ki Bou," I said. Following him behind.
"What!" He said.
"You need to be extra careful, they are coming after you. The Neelam," I uttered.
He halted near the round table and about-face at us. We stopped right after.
"Did you kill them?" He asked with a straight face.
I took a deep sigh first before I started to utter.
"We didn't,"
Then, he turned his back on us and then walked around the table, and faced us.
"So, they escape?"
"No,"
"Most likely," Marcus added.
"We have a deal with Louison, I win, they'll leave. I lose, I'll help them find the stone."
"So, it's your deal that saves us from Corpiones, huh?" Marcus uttered.
"Yes, marked yourself lucky this time," I said.
"So, you made a deal with an enemy...a smart move!" Master Ki Bou uttered. Recognizing my actions, I smiled a bit at that moment.
"Listen..." He uttered.
Attention pinned at Master Ki Bou.
"I have to lie low," He said.
As he should. The Demon Children were looking for him because he had the Neelam.
"Yes, you should hide Master Ki Bou. It's dangerous for you to go outside," I said.
"Or you should hide the stone itself," Marcus suggested.
Marcus is right, probably.
"We all know that they aren't just coming for our blood, but also for the stone. I have it to protect but I'm worried that I can't take them down that easily and that even you still struggle to beat them..."
I can see in his eyes while he's talking to us the anxiousness.
"...well, given that most of you are below 2nd Class Mage which is technically not enough skills to battle with demons. For the updates, Marcus now climbed up to 2nd Class and the three of you climbed from Senior-Student to 3rd Class. Congratulations!"
Cool! That would be great!
"As I said, I'm going to lie low for now. Don't worry, Mill will be the messenger. I already taught him how you could contact me," He added.
"But before that, I have to give your last mission before I'll be gone for a moment."
"What is it?" Marcus said.
"You have to find the others," He uttered.
Ah, yes. The other offspring. Master Ki Bou told us that there are thirteen of us who bear the Sorcerer's Mana. I, Li, and Cleb were the last ones to complete the thirteen offspring. I wonder where they are and what their mission is.
"Find them?" I said.
He nodded.
"Yes, I've heard that there's an arising war at the Stone Gate..."
"How'd you know that?" I said,
"I've received information from the King itself, as a former member of the ministry of the realm, the King dispatched this information to me, stating that the realm needed the alliance of the Thirteen Offsprings, as the Stone Gate was on the verge of danger from the bandits of Raiyan."
"So the King is back?" I uttered.
He just nodded.
"Eh, ba't tayo pa? Kaya naman 'yon ng Safeguard Council at ng Bhaltair Warriors di'ba!?" Cleb urges to utter.
"So, makikipag-digmaan talaga tayo? Bakit hindi na lang natin idaan sa masinsinang usapan? Maybe they are not bandits, maybe, they just don't want war. Baka may kukunin lang sila na dapat sa kanila and that's inside — " Li emitted but was suddenly cut off by Master Ki Bou.
"Do you hear what you're saying, Li? Come to your senses! They are bandits! What's inside the Stone Gate was already our property. Raiyan; our neighboring realm possesses magic that we don't have, — lucky, there are thirteen offspring. They are dangerous to our realm and the King needed your help to protect it, with Safeguard Council and Bhaltair Warriors at our side." Master Ki Bou said.
We were silent. Feels like we don't have a choice.
"So, what do we do?" Marcus said in a cold tone, leaning his back to the post.
"As I said, you have to find the others. They are currently patrolling at the Mana Boundary near the Clamores Village —"
"Are they going good ba?" Marcus asked out of nowhere.
We both turned our gaze at him and he seemed unbothered by our stares and pinned his eyes at Master Ki Bou.
"Yes, they are. The three of them were a 2nd Class Mage: C-Rank. Higher than any of you. The rankings are based on magic status, mastery of magic, raw strength, and the number of kills; either demon mobs or demon knights. So, yes it is, they are doing good." He answered.
"But they didn't encounter a Demon Children, right?" Marcus added.
"— and that makes your edge among them!" Ki Bou uttered.
Edge among them. This team already encountered three Demon Children while others didn't. Yet, our ranks are still below them. This may sound competitive but I'll make sure that me and my team would increase our rank for our future endeavors that could level or higher than them.
"Except for Li, despite having no battle against a demon child, your magic status, skills, and knowledge of magic have improved day by day. Keep it up!" He added, turned to Li, and complimented him. Li timidly grinned.
"We'll keep improving ourselves every day, Master Ki Bou. We'll promise that we will rank high." I said.
"As you should. Now back to your mission, you have to find them at the Mana Boundary; the boundary of the two realms which is abundant in mana. Once you do, you have to go to Clamores Village. Now, it's your choice if you'll stop the war or join the war against the bandits. I can't oppose the King and the Ministry's decision, but you can — the Sorcerers Offspring can!"
Now, it's in our hands, the decision that we make might change the course of this realm.
"Good luck, my students!" Master Ki Bou ended.
- END