Midnight. There was a full moon above in the sky, shining bright. There were clouds above, but none came in the way of the moon, as if they were giving it third respect.

Below, in a narrow alley carpeted by grey bricks. Two figures could be seen. On was a tall middle aged man with a scar on his face. And the other was a short and delicate looking young woman. Her skin was a bit tanned.

Both of them were wearing black clothes. The ragged looking attires were anything other than something nobles would wear.

“Why are we here?” The young woman scowled as she scanned around, only to spot a cat flashing past the alleyway. Her rough voice belied her dainty looks.

“Silence, Ley.” The middle aged warned. “We were ordered to be here. Hence, we are here.” He looked at the girl beside him. “After all it’s an order from ‘the one above’.”

The young woman, named Ley, remained silent. But her senses were still at their peaks nonetheless.

*Whoosh*

Suddenly, both of them turned around- circulating their magical energy. But soon, they relaxed.

“You received the order too, Asmond?” Ley asked.

“Yes.” The newcomer was a man who looked as if he were in his mid twenties. The black sleeveless shirt he was wearing revealed his refined muscles and scarred skin.

“Did anyone else receive the orders?” The middle aged man asked.

“No. It’s just the three of us.” The newcomer, Asmond, replied.

“Looks like you have been briefed about our mission this time.” The only female among the three, Ley raised one of her brows.

“Of course.” The young man put a smug smile on his face as he pointed at himself with his thumb. “Who else can lead such an important mission if not me?”

“Tsk.” The young woman clicked her tongue while the scar faced man stayed silent.

“What do we have to do this time?” The man asked.

The smug smile on the young man’s face turned into a grin. “We have to receive a couple of guests.”

The Northeastern outskirts of the Wyvian forest.

*Bam* *Bam*

The ground shook as a massive beast, a giant elephant with black fur covering its body trekked through the ground. It’s red eyes darted from left to right, from tight to left as it would occasionally trumpet, putting its long trunk in the air.

The weak beasts of the bordering areas had already run away and hid themselves. The black furred elephant was a mighty magical beast from the very core of the dangerous woodlands.

But upon the terrifying beast, sat two figures- wearing leathers of black. One was a demonically handsome young man. He had a slight smile on his face as he had had his legs lying straight and arms pillaring his torso.

The other was a young looking lady with utter indifference written on her face. She was staring forward as well.

“We will reach our destination soon.” Adrian looked at Irene. “How was the journey?”

“Not bad.” She said with a straight face.

“Not bad you say?” He raised one of his brows. “You had quite the fun.”

“Fun?” She looked into his abyssal eyes.

“Yes, fun.” He nodded. “Did you not want to keep hunting back when we were at the depths of the forest? Did you not want to explore more, to find more of the beautiful landscapes you have witnessed these lat couple of days?”

She looked ahead. “Perhaps.”

“I will take that as a yes.” He faced forward as well. “You had fun.”

“Perhaps.”

“Can you not ‘unfreeze’ yourself?” He asked, still looking at the tens of trees ahead.

“Maybe I can, if I try.” She answered. “But I have this hunch that I might lose all the powers I have.”

“But you are losing out a lot without your emotions.” He said.

“You cannot lose something you never had.”

Adrian’s eyes glinted as he turned to her, only to see her ever-cold face.

He turned his head back again and sighed. “Well said… but I did.”

This time, it was her turn to look at him. “Pardon?”

She was met with silence.

A quarter of an hour later, they had reached their destination- the Northeastern end of the forest.

Adrian patted on the back of the furred beast.

The mighty elephant trumpeted before stopping on its track. It threw its trunk in the air as it called once again.

Both Adrian and Irene jumped down to the ground. The earth below was not muddy as it was back at the southwestern side of Nemphis. Clearly, this side did not face the same amount of rainfall.

The magical elephant trumpeted one last time before it turned around and began to walk back where it came from- its home.

Both Adrian and Irene followed it with their eyes for some time before turning to the North, their objective.

Adrian suddenly raised his brows as he scanned the surroundings.

“The ones lurking in the trees…” His casual voice resounded through the quiet surroundings. “I believe it’s time for you to come out.”

*Rustle. Rustle.*

Two figures dropped from the trees and began to approach Adrian and Irene.

“Do I have to invite you personally?” Adrian looked down at the ground just ahead.

Another individual ‘surfaced’ from the earth below.

Soon, three persons were before them. A middle aged man with a scar on his face, a short tanned girl and a muscular young man. All of them had serious looks on their face.

“What’s your favourite colour?” The young man asked. Both the tall middle aged man and the short young woman gave their comrade a weird look.

“Blue.” Adrian replied with an amused smile.

“Seriously?” Ley looked at Asmond. “That’s the question you came up with?” She mocked. “Anybody can have blue as their favourite colour.”

“Silence.” Asmond rebuked the girl. “I am the leader here.” He looked back to the duo ahead. “Ahem.” He cleared his throat.

“Welcome to the Empire.”