When I return to the inn, I can see Yasaka, Asia, and Kunou already waiting for in my room. Yasaka looks at with worry and curiosity.
"Ryan, are you okay? I can feel your Senjutsu and Mana from here. Does sothing happen when you hunt that creature down?"
I sit next to her and release a sigh.
"There is a problem after I kill that creature."
"What is it? Is this the reason why your life force gets this low? It is slowly replenished but not your full life force."
After hearing that word, Asia walks toward and checks for any injury. When she sees there are so injuries on my body, she uses her Sacred Gear to heal . I thank her and pat her head before saying.
"I t the strongest Magician in this world, and he beat the shit out of . If not for him holding back and letting live, I would be dead by now."
"If you know that he is the strongest magician, why are you not running away? There is no sha in retreating."
"My Draconic nature."
She nods in understanding and says.
"I see. It looks like we need to teach you how to calm down as your Draconic nature starts to get stronger."
Grandeeney already talked to about this. While I will not change into a dragon, my nature will beco like one. My heart will beco a dragon's heart, my body will have the strength of a dragon, and my magic will change into a draconic combined with a dragon slayer magic.
"Yeah. I think it is ti to learn how to ditate and push my draconian nature."
"Let's put that aside for now. How can your life force this low? Is he soone who can absorb life force?"
"Sothing like that. He has sothing called Black Magic. While the na is Black Magic, it is more like death-based magic. This magic 'kills' my life force when I co into contact with it. I would be dead by now if not for my Senjutsu and magic."
At the ntion of my demise, Kunou burst into tears and jumped at . She hugs my neck tightly while bawling her eyes out.
"Papa! Don't die! I don't want you to die! No!"
And as if it was a fast-spreading virus, Asia also got infected by her cry. Now, there are two people crying while hugging . I release a sigh and hug the two of them tightly. I let them cry for a few seconds before saying.
"I will not die. I will never die as long as my loved one is still alive. I will continue to survive anything thrown my way and co out stronger. This is a promise I give to you three. I swear it upon my soul."
Yasaka walks toward and hugs .
"I don't care if you run away. I don't care if you decide to hide. All I want you is to survive. I don't want to lose soone who foolishly fights against sothing more powerful than him to protect . Promise that you will not stand in front of a being that is more powerful than you just to protect ."
I look at her for a second before saying.
"I am sorry, Yasaka. I cannot promise you that. I cannot make promises that I cannot keep. If it is to protect the three of you, I will jump in front of even an ultimate being like Great Red."
Yasaka sighs, but I can see she has a small smile on her face.
"What a stubborn husband I have. Then, the only thing I can do is to make sure he can survive anything. Prepare for a harder sparring season, okay?"
I give her a grin and say.
"Bring it on."
=| The Next Morning |=
I release a sigh as I look at the others, preparing to start the preliminary stage. I rember this stage in my previous life. The participants need to reach the arena in the middle of the city while inside a labyrinth created using magic.
We need to reach that place before the others can qualify for the tournant's next stage. Luckily for our team, I have Senjutsu, which will let track the arena's location.
When the clock reached midnight, I could feel the entire building shake, and I quickly left my room. I can see my teammates Mirajane Strauss, Gajeel Redfox, Laxus Dreyar, and Juvia also walk out of their rooms.
We see a giant orb in the sky that makes the entire city look like a labyrinth. We hear the weird pumpkin man explaining the rules of this stage. Many teams from different guilds are participating, but only eight teams can enter the next stage.
That ans the first eight teams that reach the goal will be the ones that can participate in the next stage. When that is done, we nod our heads. However, before my teammates could start running, I stopped them.
"Wait! Leave this to . Let map the entire city, and then we can start running."
Mirajane looks at in confusion and says,
"You can do that, Ryan?"
I give her a small smile and say.
"Of course. It is within my magic capabilities."
I sit on the ground and gather enough Senjutsu to let my senses cover the entire city. It is like I have a third eye watching over the city. I release a deep breath and open my eyes. The others look at curiously.
Ah, it must be their first ti seeing my eyes when I enter Sage Mode.
"Let's go. I already know the way. Co on. I hope you can keep up."
I give them a cocky smile and see their vein bulge at that word. I can see them use their magic, and it looks like they will not lose against in speed. I nod and start to run at full speed.
I can see Mirajane use her Take Over: Satan Soul to fly and keep up with . Gajeel uses his physical strength to jump from one roof to another. Luvia uses water to propel her body into the air like jet propulsion but with water. Laxus uses his lightning to boost his speed and keep up with .
Even when the labyrinth changes direction, I know which path we need to take and continue to run through the labyrinth as if it were a regular street that we have been through hundreds of tis.
It only takes us ten minutes to reach a massive door with the label 'Goal' on top of it. The five of us walk through the door, and we can see the pumpkin man (Mato) look at us in surprise.
"You guys are here already?! How! Even the fastest team can reach this place after fifteen minutes! You guys are five minutes faster than them!"
The five of us give him a smirk, and I say.
"We have a shortcut."
Mato looks at us silently before suddenly shouting.
"There is no shortcut in the maze!"
The five of us only laugh as Mato takes us back to our lodging.
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