The Messenger of Death

Within minutes, Lex arrived at a secluded part of a forest that wasn't far from the guest inn. He was almost out of breath.

From where Lex was standing, he could still see a red veil in the sky.

Lex could also sense that there were a lot of people around the entrance of the guest inn, that's why he stopped in the forest. He couldn't reveal himself in front of so many strangers, he was too shy for that.

Even when the attention of these people was attached to the red veil in the sky. Lex leaned his back on the trunk of a tree and looked up at the sky once again.

['It's a good thing that we left that place as fast as we could. With the level of attention that Al's flame created if we couldn't teleport it would have been harder to escape.'] Alex rejoiced.

['Imagine having to explain to the school authorities that we were trying to get past the barrier so that we could get our hands on another Midas petal. Do they even know what a Midas petal is?'] Al added.

['The most important thing is that we weren't caught, and now, we have to make investigations about the barrier and how to get past it.'] Xander pointed out.

"Uh, Alex, I think it is time for you to take over," Lex uttered meekly. He was scared, mostly shy of the number of strangers that were gathered around the entrance of the guest inn.

-Switch.

Alex took over for the first time in a while. Immediately, Alex could sense the number of people that were standing outside the guest inn. "Wow, there are quite a lot of people out here." He mumbled before stepping out from behind the trees…

Because of the continental competition, the population of people in the academy had increased by a lot, especially the guest inn. Al and the rest weren't completely aware of how much the population of people coming to visit the academy was.

And the reason is that Al and the rest of his team had spent a lot of their time down in the bunker. They were training for the continental competition down there. When they suggested going to the backyard of the guest inn for training, Al refused, saying that it was better to continue training here. Apart from their team, it is highly likely that no one else in the academy knew about the underground bunker; so whatever secret they had will stay a secret.

While the Al gave was correct, deep down he just wanted them to forget about his suite in the guest inn.

During the duration of their training in the underground bunker, Al supervised or acted as a sparring partner for all of them. Camron showed up once in a while, he too had been going through training, but his training is from the principal of the academy.

Ever since coming in contact with other darkness elemental users, he had been realizing a lot of things that he could do and achieve with his elemental ability.

Al had been encouraging Emma to learn how to be a constant generator of pure and filtered natural QI without touching the receiver of the energy. At first, it was very difficult for her to transfer energy to anyone without touching the person. Emma had to start with short distance transfer and continued as so until she was a bit proficient with it, then she progressed by increasing the distance little by little. With the constant supply of QI during the continental competition, their team would be able to soar many obstacles if not all…

['How about asking Xiao En about the barrier?'] Al suggested.

['Yeah, that's plausible.'] Alex agreed.

['Just make sure that you don't accept the first price she calls, negotiate with her.'] Al added.

"Stingy goat," Alex rolled his eyes and shook his head as he began making his way to the entrance of the guest inn. Alex had no intention of negotiating with Xiao En unless the price she requests for is quite ridiculous.

Upon getting to the door of the guest inn, Alex pushed it open and stepped in.

"What the?" He exclaimed quite audibly.

Alex wasn't shocked to see a lot of guests in the reception of the guest inn, he was shocked to see the number of workers that were present in the inn and wearing the same uniform he usually sees Xiao En and the steward wearing.

"Did the guest inn always have this many workers moving around?" Alex blurted out.

Compared to the first time that he came into the inn, this was another world. They had redecorated the interior of the guest inn during the time that they had been in the underground bunker training.

"Yes, we have always had this many workers for the inn. They just didn't have any reason to show their selves back then." The familiar voice of the steward reached Alex's ears.

Alex resisted the urge to flinch, but he couldn't stop his eyelids from twitching. He turned around and looked at the steward. "Silent as ever." Alex nodded his head as a form of greetings.

"Welcome back, the honored customer." The steward smiled a bit before bowing.

"Is Xiao En around?" Alex questioned.

"Yes, the young Miss is here, she is by the window over there enjoying her break." The steward pointed at the edge of the reception where a little café was.

Alex turned and looked in the direction the steward pointed at. There she was, sitting down on a chair and staring into the distance in her uniform with a cup in front of her.

"Thanks," Alex said to the steward before heading over to where Xiao En was seated.

"What's on your mind?" Alex uttered when he got close to where she was.

Xiao En arched a brow when she heard Alex's voice. "Thought you had gone on a mission, you were missing for days."

"Were you perhaps missing me?" Alex stated just for the fun of it.

"No, I'm almost broke and your pockets are quite deep." Xiao En smiled as she raised her cup and took a sip of the tea in it. "What brings you to me?" She questioned.

"Something important, but before that, you still haven't answered my question."

"Nosy much?" She sighed. "I was wondering why my grandfather ordered that I'm not to be allowed to work for a while."

A snorting sound escaped Alex's mouth but he quickly held himself from bursting into laughter.

['Hahaha!! You can't tell why?? He scared that you will start a fight with any customer that annoys you!'] Al didn't hold himself, he laughed at Xiao En freely.

Xiao En frowned at Alex, "And what's funny about that?"

Alex coughed a bit and decided to change the subject. "Do you know about the barrier in the forest?" Alex questioned and took a seat opposite her.

"There are several barriers in the forest, but yeah, I know of all of them. Which are you referring to?"

"Hmm, one that could return the attacks thrown at it with two times the power."

"Huh, are you talking about the barrier that shot out red flames not long ago?"

"Yes, that barrier," Alex replied quickly, eager to know about the barrier and if there was a way to get past it.

"Wait, how did you know that it was a barrier that caused that?" A sinister smile appeared on Xiao En's face as she realized something.

"Damn it." Alex tightened his fist.

['Tsk, tsk, you never fail to shame me, rabbit.'] Al uttered in disappointment.

['Shut up mutt, I didn't do it on purpose!']

Although it wasn't much trouble for him if she had figured out that he was the one that caused the red veil in the sky, Alex was just bummed that he foolishly revealed it to her like that.

"You pipsqueak, you have gotten quite strong, even if the barrier amplified your attack, the initial strength behind the attack must have been something too." Xiao En smiled.

Now she was interested in what Alex was up to.

"Just tell me about the damn barrier." Alex looked around the café, just to confirm if anyone was listening in.

"Don't worry about others listening to our conversation, they wouldn't be able even if they tried to. Each table is within a runic circle where sounds from inside are blocked from the ears of outsiders.

Alex sighed and felt comfortable now.

"What exactly do you want to know about the barrier, and why do you want to know??" Xiao En asked after taking a sip of her tea. "And I hope you haven't forgotten that information from me comes with a price?"

"I haven't forgotten about that, I'll pay you so long as I get satisfactory answers. I want to know how to get past the barrier safely… and I want to know cause I want to pass the barrier." Alex replied.

"Hmmm, alright. That will be 2 green LD-ECs." Xiao En leaned back and rested her back on the chair.