Ray turned around and walked back. Everyone down below saw his broad back as they felt something. They felt that the leader they had so enthusiastically accepted seemed lonely. He seemed to be carrying the weight of everything over his shoulders and even though he did, he still stood straight and proud.
Somehow, they felt like going after him so they could share his burden with him. They felt like doing everything for him, so their leader could also sigh in relief. They didn't want him to do anything alone.
"Ray Xanders! I openly pledge my loyalty to you," Like the clap of thunder on a calm and clear evening. A boy knelt down on his knees. Tears ran down from his eyes as he beat his chest with his fist.
He was the one to pledge his loyalty to Ray. The boy was the same age as Ray. However, right now; both of them seemed to be miles apart. One seemed to be high above in the sky while the other was on the ground with no hope whatsoever.
However, right now; he felt as of the one high above had to lend him a hand and all he needed to do so was grab the hand and fly higher into the skies.
Slowly, people knelt down as within minutes, a quarter of them had pledged their loyalty to Ray.
On the other hand, Ray smiled. His purpose had been achieved, he had done what he wanted to do. He wanted their support, to make them ride an emotional rollercoaster and then when they are emotional, he would take advantage of their emotions and then reap his benefits.
As the pledges came in, he turned around. Even if ten percent had sworn to serve him, that would have been fine but as the students kept on pledging, he was surprised. Around twenty-five percent had sworn and more kept on coming.
"Now that's a surprise," He thought and told Aurora.
"Well, that's what you call the domino effect. Also, do trust your charm stat, it had a lot to do with it as well," Aurora replied quite smugly.
"Yeah... yeah, thanks a lot your highness, the great supreme system, Aurora!" He replied sarcastically. He knew what she wanted, so he didn't shy away while complimenting her.
Hearing the compliment, Aurora was satisfied and she remained quiet.
Ray turned around and faced them again. Knowing that he had to put up a show, his mana churned. Waves of energy formed around him as the vague shadow of a fiery bird appeared behind him.
The bird's wings were ablaze as it spread them proudly. As the wings were spread, a beautiful fiery picture was formed as everyone looking at him stood in awe.
Smiling, he bowed down and thanked them with the depth of his heart, "I thank you all once again. I won't let you down, it's my promise,"
Behind Ray, the others also looked in awe. It was beyond their wildest dreams that someone of their age could move so many people.
Heck! Even they were moved by his speech. The emotions they felt and each and every word he spoke along with his body language, pulled them in and made them want to kneel down to him.
"I want you all to be at rest. We are all making plans to accommodate you all and for that, we will need your help and cooperation. Worry not, everything will be fine," said Ray as he turned around. Now that everyone was in his support, it was time to take it up a notch and finally put everything in motion.
In a spacious corridor,
Sirius and the rest of the team stood in front of the entrance as they tried to find the clues of the assassin.
Sirius transformed. His eyes turned red as fur extended out of his body. His body swelled up as the shadow of a huge wolf formed behind him. He looked at the entrance in front of him, his gaze was menacing as a terrifying aura embarked out of him.
Right now, Sirius's vision had changed. With a tinge of red and yellow in it, he seemed to visualize the smell and aura of everything. He glanced at those behind as a yellowish tinge surrounded them. Then, glancing at the piece of cloth in his hand, he saw a blueish-purple tinge over it.
This was a piece of cloth from Emma's dress that he found on the site of the attack. This piece was stained with not only Emma's blood and aura but also with the aura of the assassin.
As for how it was, Sirius had done an idea but wasn't sure of it. He just knew that it was something that Emma did while she was still conscious as he thanked his sister once again in his heart.
Looking up, he saw a faint trail of blueish purple as the smell still lingered on the walls of the corridor. He saw shadowy walls were still stained with the assassin's smell.
"Follow me," He growled. A shadow emerged from behind him as he sent the shadow wolf for reconnaissance.
The shadow wolf howled and whimpered at Sirius's gaze. Following its master's order, it hid in the shadows and followed the scent with Sirius right behind it.
As for the others, they followed behind him. John and Tim were right behind Sirius, their abilities were activated and they were ready to attack at any moment. They knew that they had to be attentive as the assassin might be right around the corner and might even ambush them.
Behind both of them were two more students from the meeting. These two seemed a bit lax as they were in a much easier position. They had protection from the front and behind both. Also, since they were of noble birth and hadn't got much fighting experience, they didn't of the danger that a higher realm presented for them.
Behind these two were the rest of the people. With them being seven in total, Hailey was among them and so were Aella and Kid. Ray had promised this before and as he promised, he sent his own team members first.
Also, Ray had sent Aella and Kid to keep an eye on Hailey. He was rather wary of the woman and he wished to know more about her.
Along with these three were four people of common birth. These people had rather decent abilities and their strength was quite average. They could use their abilities pretty well and of the four, three specialized in tracking and sensory abilities.
"Just how long will it take?" Hailey complained. Stomping her foot on the ground, she stopped and spoke, "Let's take a rest here. I feel hungry,"
"No, we keep on going," Sirius denied as he kept on walking. They had been walking for the past hour and the scent was getting fainter and fainter. Sirius feared that if they stopped even for a moment, the traces would disappear and all their hard work would be for naught.
"Then you go. I am going to stop here and take a short rest," Hailey argued as she took out a water bottle from her spatial storage and started gulping it down.
Seeing her act like this, Aella and Tim felt like smashing her face with a hammer but they kept themselves in control. They turned to look at Sirius, only to find that he had ignored the haughty woman and kept on with his search.
Feeling relieved, Aella turned to Hailey and looked at her with her eyes blazing fire.
She walked to the girl and said, "I know that you aren't used to doing much work but I don't care. If you want to stay here, so be it but don't expect others to slow down for you,"
Her words were sour and she said so with sarcasm laced in her voice. She hated Hailey to the core. She had seen her act so unruly in the meetings that she wanted to punch the girl in her face and teach her a lesson.
However, she still heeded Ray's advice and kept herself in control. Ray had told her not to start a fight whatever happens because he still had some uses for Hailey.
"Okay then. Good for me, I know how to take care of myself. Once I am done, I will start to search for the assassin myself. Also, let me tell you; I will be the one to find the assassin," Hailey replied with the same arrogant expression sporting her face.
She was very angry with the way Aella talked to her and she wanted to kill the woman right away but even she had her plans.
In short, the cooperation between everyone was based on benefits as after all, there weren't eternal enemies but eternal benefits.
Hence, Aella and Hailey both retreated and as Aella went her way following Sirius, Hailey sat in her spot as she took out some nutrient pills and swallowed them down.
Along with Hailey, a couple more students stopped as they wanted some rest as well.
In the meantime, Sirius's eyes lit up. The presence had gotten stronger as he found a wall with some dried blood stained upon it. The blood was very similar to the one on the piece of cloth he had. It released the same blueish-purple scent as well.
Seeing this, Sirius sighed in relief. They were getting closer to their goal and it was only a matter of time before Sirius came face-to-face with the assassin. Thinking of this, Sirius wanted to tear open the assassin's throat with his teeth and feel his blood run down his fangs.
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