After Ray agreed to the one on one duel with the Demon man, there were a few things the group still needed to do first. Lenny needed to locate the demon man once again and inform him that Ray had accepted the duel. The group decided that it would be best to do the duel on a hunting ground not too far away from the city.

  There was no telling how much damage this fight would cause and they didn't want to get the citizens involved. That wasn't the only problem as well. Most likely this duel was just a setup, an ambush to get rid of Ray.

  Ray had been getting in the way of the Shadow plague too many times now and it was clear the Shadow plague was aware of Ray's presence.

  The date of the duel was set to be in a week's time.

  This also gave Lilly enough time to gather a small army of her own. During this time she would do her best to gather as many adventures as she could, by putting up a request in the Guild hall. Her father wouldn't allow her to take the city's guards but there was no harm in giving her coin to hire outside help.

  With the duel now a week away, Ray had something important to tell Jack and Gary. They were currently inside their inn room that was being paid for by Lilly.

  It was a plain room that didn't have much inside apart from the three beds.

  "I have some important news to tell both of you." Ray said, "The duel is a week away and although I am confident in my abilities, I am afraid that the demon man might be too strong for me. I've decided to head back to Avrion to train."

  "What!" Gary said, "But it will take three days to get to Avrion and then another three days to get back, you won't even have enough time to do anything."

  Ray smiled.

  "Don't worry I have an ability to teleport myself there."

  At this point, Gary was no longer surprised. Ray could make fire, make ice, steal Ki, give Ki, write up contracts, and had fins on his hands. For all Gary knew Ray was basically a reincarnation of a god.

  "Although I will be gone for the week, I have an important task for you two."

  Suddenly Gary and Jack were stood up straight as they saw the serious look on Ray's face.

  "I need you two, to make money."

  "Huh?" Gary replied.

  "We cannot continue to live off the charity of others, also we need to improve our ranking as adventurers and guilds. While I'm away, you two head to the Guild hall and complete as many quests as you can."

  "Yes, boss!" Jack replied loudly.

  "Good, I'm counting on you," Ray said.

  Then suddenly, Ray activated his teleportation skill and a glowing blue light surrounded him. Ray's body started to disappear piece by piece until eventually, Ray had completely disappeared.

  After watching Ray perform a feat only top tier Mage's did, Gary couldn't help but wonder what Ray was.

  "Hey Jack, have you ever thought about who Ray is?"

  "What do you mean, Ray is Ray."

  "No, I mean… you know what forget about it. You're right. Ray is Ray."

  Sometimes leaving it as simple as that was the better thing to do Gary thought.

  Gary then started to search the room just in case Ray was still there, after looking around for a little while, it seemed like Ray had truly disappeared. Then Gary went up to the bed where he was sleeping for the night.

  He knelt down and went to grab something from underneath his bed where Gary kept his belongings.

  He pulled out a fairly large bag which also had a long item attached to it with a white cloth wrapped around. Gary placed the bag on the floor and lifted the clothed item onto his bed.

  "Well, he wanted us to get money quick right?" Gary said as he started to unwrap the item.

  When all the cloth had been taken off, finally the object could be seen. It was a single-handed black blade and, on the hilt, it had the symbol of wings with an eye in the centre.

  "Didn't Ray lock that sword away?" Jack said.

  "Yes, but I managed to see where Slyvia had put it and took it onto our journey with us."

  "If Ray were to find out……" Jack said.

  "Does it matter, this sword had saved our lives and we may need it again, maybe you don't understand Jack because you have something and I don't."

  "What do you mean?" Jack said slightly confused.

  "You're a Werewolf, your special, your strong, and Ray… I don't even need to get started on all the things he can do. My swordsmanship may have been special at the academy but compared to you two I'm nothing. I need my weapons and this is what will take me to the top."

  Jack was concerned for Gary. The last time Gary had used the blade it seemed like he was slowly going mad. He had even said the sword had told him to kill his friends around him, now that Jack thought about it a bit more, it reminded him of what Lenny had said about the dragon hammer.

  Could the two weapons be linked somehow?

  "I know you're worried for me Jack." Gary said, "but trust me I can control it, I've been using it little by little each night and I can suppress the whispers it tries to put into my head. As long as I don't use it for a long time I'll be okay."

  With that, Gary placed the sword in his left sheath while the White falcon sword was placed in his right. Gary was determined to use the White falcon for most situations and only use the Black sword when needed.

  ***

  Meanwhile back at Avrion, the elders were currently in a meeting of their own. They had just finished discussing protection with the nearby cities and towns and now trade was doing well. It was Slyvia's turn to speak in the hall and she stood up holding papers in her hand.

  But as she was about to say her words she noticed, Sir K, Wilfred, and the others staring at her.

  "What is something wrong?" Slyvia asked.

  Just then she felt a hand placed on her left shoulder.

  "I'm back," Ray said.

  ***

  Special thanks to Fenrir2040, DarkShadow_DS, and amasuckerforanimes

  these really helps continue my author Journey.