*Ding

  Suddenly, a notification sound could be heard. Ray opened his status screen and smiled at the result.

  "looks like Slyvia accepted after all." Ray was pleased with Jack's work, honestly, a part of him thought that he wouldn't be able to do it but somehow, he had managed to. Just then though Ray also spotted another name.

  "Von…. THE OLD MAN!" Ray couldn't believe his eyes.

  If Jack had told him he had invited the old man, Ray would have been shocked but to find out the old man actually accepted. Without even realising it one of his teachers had become a follower of his. Ray felt a little guilty but he had no choice. The best thing to do was to keep his identity secret.

  Everyone was already trying to kill him and he didn't need more people.

  The next day once training had finished, Ray had decided to go look for Slyvia. He was currently waiting outside in the hall just around the corner from one of the meeting rooms. Ray had learnt from Jack, Slyvia's schedule so now it was easy for Ray to bump into Slyvia whenever he wanted.

  The meeting finally finished and Slyvia was burnt out. So much information had been shoved into her head over the last few days and she was really struggling with it all.

  "I'm sorry." Von said, "I wish I could do more."

  Slyvia but on a brave smile.

  "It's alright, I'll get the hang of it soon don't worry."

  As Slyvia turned the corner, she suddenly saw Ray standing there. Slyvia quickly turned and went back behind the wall. She then peeked around the corner just to check if it was really Ray.

  "It is him, is he waiting for me?" Sylvia thought.

  Slyvia then started to look around her, she finally spotted a shiny metal ornament on the side that was part of the academy decoration.

  "Look at me," Sylvia said as she stared into the shiny ornament and started to sort out her hair.

  Von then cleared his throat to signal that he was still there.

  Slyvia face then went bright red, she had completely forgotten he was right next to her. Slyvia took in a deep breath and then walked out into the hallway.

  "Hey Ray," She said as she waved, "What brings you here?"

  "I need to ask a favour."

  Slyvia, Von and Ray decided to head to the roof of the dorm which was Ray's favourite spot. Ray liked this spot not only because of the view but it allowed him to keep an eye on the people around him better.

  Ray then cut straight to the chase.

  "I need permission to leave the city walls."

  "That's going to be quite difficult, the other elders are keeping an eye on you more than anyone else, why do you need to go out so bad? maybe if you give a reason, I can convince them."

  Ray thought about what to say for a while until he had finally decided on what he wanted to say.

  "I need to get stronger; you see Slyvia I have this ability. I'm able to absorb Ki from living creatures and add it to my own."

  This was the most Ray was willing to tell them. Slyvia had already experienced Ray giving her Ki so it wouldn't come as so much of a surprise and Ray suspected that Von had an idea after what happened to the students in the arena.

  Of course, this was a lie, Ray's body currently couldn't handle any more mana or Ki, what he needed was the beast's crystals to evolve his own body.

  "So it's true then," Von said.

  "We both talked about the possibility of this." Slyvia said, "Is there anything else you can do?"

  Ray shook his head.

  "I need to prepare myself; you know I'm a target and I need to get more powerful. The fastest way to do that is for me to go hunting."

  Slyvia thought about it for a while, in truth she currently thought that perhaps outside the city was safer for them all, then in the city at the moment.

  "I'll try my best."

  "Thank you."

  A few hours later and Slyvia went to the dorm to meet up with the others and Ray once more, the two of them left the room and went to the roof again to speak.

  "Me and Von talked about it, we think it's dangerous to ask permission from the academy at the moment. There was no way they would accept a request like this but we have come up with a solution. Von is a friend with one of the merchants that regularly visits the city for supplies. He is also close with the guards on shift at a certain time of day."

  Slyvia then lifted her hand and showed one finger.

  "One time, this will only work one time so you need to make the most out of it. The merchant has agreed to hide you in his cargo next week. He will return the next day but this is the only time we can do this."

  One time was all that Ray needed. Ray was currently at 79 intermediate points so he only needed to hunt a few more beasts to level up. If he could, he would like to also obtain enough crystals so Noir could also level up but he was the current priority at the moment.

  "Oh, and Ray, there was more thing, be on the lookout around you, Von told me that the academy has someone watching you most of the time these days. They call him the Lurker."

  Slyvia's words had brought back a memory of Ray's. He had heard this name once before from Jasmine. When they had escaped the red door, Jasmine said Sir K had been informed by the Lurker. Just who was this Lurker?

  Then another thought came back to Ray, perhaps this man was the same person who was at the library at that time. If that was true then this Lurker person was bad for Ray, as his dragon eyes ability had no way of detecting him but no matter what Ray needed to leave the city.