Not only Ray but the entire group, apart from the two students, were told to meet Slyvia in the Council Room. There was no time for him to check on how the others were doing, and they were just taken straight there.

  The kids were taken back to their regular classes for now and would be told later what they needed to do. The beasting process was put on hold slightly as they all attended this urgent matter.

  At first, the kids were a little down, of course, they were nervous about going through the beasting process, but they were excited and wanted to get the whole thing over and done with. The wait was killing them. But when they returned, they were suddenly treated like superstars. Now, all the other kids wanted to know what happened during their first outing.

  "Ha, Ha gather round and let me tell you all the tail of how I, Flynn defeated the great Spiked Hog's saving our very King's mother!" Flynn started to brag, taking in every second.

  "Is it just me, or is he beginning to sound more and more like master knight Kyle." Another student whispered.

  Inside the council room, all the elders were present. Ray hadn't seen any of them in a while, but it wasn't time for chitchat judging by the severe look on Sylvia's face.

  Once everyone was settled down, Slyvia began with the meeting. She looked around and noticed that neither Kyle nor Jack were here.

  "Don't worry about them." Martha smiled. "We will update them about this when we can."

  Sylvia nodded and started with the meeting, "You're probably all wondering what went on during the short amount of time you guys were away. And Ray, although I would love to hear your tales on what you had been up to with Jack, I'm afraid there is something more urgent we must deal with now."

  "A few days ago, we received a letter from the Empire. Simply put, they have invited us to compete in the All Kingdom Tournament this year. Not only that, but this tournament will be hosted in the Empire itself."

  Hearing these words had sent a shiver down through many of their spines. During the last fighting tournament, the Dark guild had attacked and caused many casualties.

  It was because of this the Alure kingdom had sent a substitute instead of someone from Avrion.

  The All Kingdom Tournament was a fighting event between the strongest fighters from each Kingdom.

  "So are they acknowledging us as a Kingdom then, since they are personally inviting us? Wait, is that why they had no choice but to open the borders and allow people to enter the city?." Martha asked.

  "I view this quite differently, on their behalf it's quite a clever move," Slyvia put forward her thoughts.

  "First they made it so no other city would be able to trade with us. With what little land we have and our primary source of income coming from selling beast weapons, they knew what they were doing. Meanwhile, they continued to hire the guilds around the border who thrived on high taxes and this caused trouble in the nearby towns."

  "Most kingdoms by now would have tried waging war, perhaps with one of the weaker Kingdoms nearby. Then they could pin the blame on us as the first to attack.

  But that never happened, so they guessed we had come up with a solution, perhaps a temporary or not a great one.

  This invitation has done two things. First opening the borders. Now all the people who wanted to move here before have come knocking on our door for help."

  Simply put, the fields you guys have cleared are not ready yet. We barely have enough to feed ourselves, never mind extra mouths.

  Now the borders were open we tried going to Alure and the other Kingdoms asking them to trade with us as they did before, but they tripled the price, most likely ordered by the Empire.

  The second thing, knowing all of this. If we do not turn up for the event, the others will see us as weaklings. Ray's act from before would only deter them for so long. It also could be a great trap, as well."

  It was clear to everyone in the room that Slyvia had thought about this trying to think of why the Empire was planning to do what they were doing, but the reason she had called everyone here was that she didn't know what the next step to take was.

  Everyone at the table was thinking of a solution, until Ray, was the one who had come up with an unexpected answer.

  "Take all the people outside. The city as it is nearly at max capacity. Take them in temporarily, and put them to work and expand the city. They can build their own homes and lodgings making them feel more a part of this place and they can earn their keep. We will supply them the materials and protection making them part of the Redwings." Ray said.

  "As for food, call the other Kingdoms bluff, two times-five times whatever prices they offer, bite their hand off and take it. We will use them for our food supply for the time being."

  "But Ray, we have no money," Slyvia said, hoping he would have a better answer than that. "Most of it was already used."

  A slight smile then appeared on Ray's face. "Don't worry about that, Jack will be here soon, and I'm sure he will be here with a nice surprise. On top of that, he's bringing a lot of physical power with him, putting them to work on construction for the time being. I guarantee you they will be able to build whatever it usually takes at least two times faster."

  "Finally, as for the All Kingdom Tournament, let me fight," Ray replied.

  As for the last statement that was made by Ray, this didn't surprise anyone. They were surprised to hear he had so many answers for the city, but not about wanting to take part in the tournament.

  "Ray I thought you would say this and I need to remind you there are a few important things," Slyvia replied. "This is a fighting tournament, so you won't be able to use your magic abilities. Also, two people can participate from each Kingdom. We are allowed to send a small group along with them, but that's it. You will be in enemy territory all on your own."

  "And last but not least, The All Kingdom Tournament is around the same time Gary said he would attack."

  *****

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