Way of the Knights

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While his friends were experiencing their battle inside. Let's get back to Raven.

"You there Uncle?"

Raven turned around and saw the silver flicker, now that he has his eye technique activated this flicker is more like a torch lamp for him, incredibly visible. The silver flicker came from a necklace, the locket was shaped like a bird and it's eyes is where the light originated.

As soon as he asked this question, a figure instantly manifested in front of him. It was man, clad in a majestic military robe. The hem of his clothes are lined with a mixture of silver and gold entwining each other, there were two swords hanging by his waist, a badge that depicts the image of the Royal Palace and he wore a strict face which is accentuated by a surprised expression.

He is one of the few Royal Guards who swore to protect the safety of the palace along with it's residents. Father to Ellen, he is Bradley Redcrest, the true head of the Vermillion Sky Clan.

"Long time no see Avi, how have you been?"

His voice alone was enough to intimidate even the worst criminals. Yet he was wearing a very kind expression right now, a complete opposite of what he sounds like.

"I've been doing fine Uncle thank you for asking. It's rather rare for you to visit, has the management stopped pulling your leg?" He then gestured him towards the table so that they could sit down and talk, to which Bradley followed.

"Oh how I wish that such was case…" Bradley let out a gritty chuckle and shook his head, "But I'm afraid that it won't be happening anytime soon. I just received a news while I was on the barracks about what happened to your class and filed for brief leave so that I can check up on that little brat. Where is she anyhow? And what's with all this?"

Bradley can't hold in his curiosity anymore. In truth, he was actually watching from the moment that Ellen went inside, she always had this habit removing her necklace whenever she trained and she always placed it on top of a fresh set of clothing. Bradley already saw Raven coming out from those portals and he had so many things to ask.

"Oh that?" Raven responded and took out the main control for the Virtual Beast Arena. He took out a mirror and connected it through the device. Bradley was startled when he saw how the surface of the mirror changed and showed five different images of Raven's friends fighting tough enemies.

"I call this the Virtual Beast Arena. Once you enter one of those portals, your consciousness will be separated from your body and will be transported into the placed that you see in the mirror. There's a hundred types of beast inside. Kill the opponent and win, goes both ways."

Bradley was a bit dumbstruck by his explanation and could only stare him in shock. How come he'd never heard of something like this before? If he was asked to try it, then he would really do since he was curious but at the same time, he wasn't here for mere curiosity, he was here as a father checking up on her daughter!

"Hold on Avi! Isn't this incredibly dangerous? Where did you get this thing?"

"Relax Uncle, I didn't get this somewhere since I made it. Yes, while it's true that this is a little dangerous, remember that only their consciousness is in there, their actual bodies are just behind those portals. Lastly, I only introduced this thing to them, I never told them to enter. It was their own decision to experience it for themselves."

Raven's statement were delivered in a cool and collected manner. Bradley can't help but to raise his brows as he felt that Raven seemed to be a little different from how he was before. Not only that, he said that he made this entire thing? How?

He was so curious but he felt that it was rather rude to ask Raven about all of this so kept his mouth shut and just watched as his daughter duke it out with a Sand Alligator.

"She would get killed by that damnation." Bradley shook his head as he saw the beast that his daughter was facing.

For a parent, it hurts to see your own child get hurt, specially to a father that spoiled his little daughter like a princess. But he knew that he won't be around forever to hide her behind, he will eventually pass and she will have to face this difficulties along the way.

"You might wanna watch until the end Uncle. Us brats haven't been idle you know." Raven smiled as he prepared some tea on the side. Bradley raised his brow and was about to ask when suddenly he heard his daughter's rather…strong…language.

"You freak of a reptile! You dare hurt this Big Sister!? Come do that shit one more time and you'll get it!"

"Stop with all of diving and shit! Come up and face me coward!!"

"Haha! How's that for a change huh! Try and dive again with one less limb you piece of crap!!!"

Bradley's face sank, black lines could be seen looming over his head while Raven just laughed at the side. But now that he looked at it closely, he was surprised to see that his daughter actually managed to fight evenly with a Sand Alligator, this was something that even him won't see everyday.

Sand Alligators are a menace outside of kingdom. They had one specific ability that truly made a lot of people pull all their hairs out in frustration because it was incredibly hard to deal with. And that is, these beasts could dive underground.

Just like how normal alligators work, they could float on top of water, completely still while waiting for the prey, once a victim tried it's luck, it would then go in for the kill. Sand Alligators and their ability to dive underground is equally, if not more, terrifying on it's own as they could partially sink down and camouflage as some random lump on the ground, once a prey mistakingly step closer to them they will open their maws and swallow them whole.

If the Sand Alligator met it's match? No problem, once simple dive is all it takes and it's out of there already. Just from this records alone, one could already imagine how unlucky it is to encounter a Sand Alligator outside.

Bradley knew all of these facts because he too were one of those people who bore the similar hatred with beast like this. But to see his child actually giving it a rum for it's money? It was very hard to figure out what he truly feel as of this moment.

"Sand Alligators are a headache to deal with but they have one habit that they can't fix. And that is they always make a very loud sound the second before they return to the surface. If the senses are trained properly, it isn't so hard to respond with that."

Raven stated once more as he gave a cup of tea to Bradley. But the Royal Guard's attention were glued to the mirror as he watched his daughter respond to the very same habit that Raven was talking about.

Ellen's vigilance was peaked at the current moment, she didn't bothered to use her vision anymore completely relied on her senses in attempts to follow the reptile's movements.

As expected, she heard that sound once more and it came from beneath her, without even hesitating she immediately plunged her energy covered sword beneath her and watched as the reptile's body wriggling beneath her and unwillingly surfaced.

Not wanting to lose her current advantage, she rushed once more and hacked several locations on the alligator's body. She targeted the remaining limbs, the eyes, the place between the eyes, the belly and etc. She basically left many open wounds on the alligator's body.

With the concept of victory so close at hand, she already threw caution away and all out on her onslaught. She also ignored the wounds that kept on spilling her own blood, she was infected by bloodlust that she was basically ignoring the damages on her body because she wanted to kill this thing and end this battle.

Because of her frenzy, she wasn't aware that the alligator's tail was coming for her. Using it's remaining strength, it's tail crashed on Ellen's tiny body which made Bradley grimace. Ellen flew while vomitting blood, she felt that some of he ribs were broken by that attack, her head also hit onto a tree pretty bad so she was experiencing severe headache and haziness of her vision.

But because she was very thirsty at the concept of victory, she picked up her sword and marched towards the alligator once more, but each step she took was incredibly laborious. As she moved closer, the bloodlust that she previously wore off and was replaced by one thought:

"Shit I'm dying…"

And before she could even raised her sword to deal the killing blow, the alligator already died due to blood loss and she died to the similar reason as well.