GATHERING OF MONSTERS

After settling everything that needs to be settled in the house, they began to prepare themselves till the day of the gathering finally arrived.

"These clothes are comfortable to wear," said Viona as she looked at what seemed to be a battle suit the old woman previously gave them on her body as she came out of her room.

"There seem to be runes meant to refreshen the mind on them" commented Jake as he also came out of the room while looking at the clothes he wore. The clothes had a mixture of white and black colors on them along with strange runes all over Them.

"Now that everyone is out, let's go to the gathering" Jake suddenly said as he barged out of his room to approach the front door. But what he heard next from Viona made him curse internally.

"Wait! Dave hasn't come out yet"

While turning toward Dave's room door to knock on it. he complained.

"What is he still doing inside? has he forgotten that today is the gathering?"

But before he could knock on the door, it got opened which made him lose his balance as he fell flat on the floor.

"Jake, what are doing on the floor?" asked Dave with a confused look on his face.

While enduring the pain in his body and the giggles coming from behind him, he speedily stood up and shouted at Dave angrily.

"How dare you embarrass the great Jake Turner. Do you seek death?"

But unfortunately, Dave simply ignored him as he walked toward the door while saying.

"Enough chitchat, let's quickly get to the gathering before we get late"

While opening the door, Viona, Jonah, and the angered Jake quickly gathered behind him. But after successfully opening the door, they saw someone quietly standing at their entrance.

"Brother Hutton, what are you doing here?" asked Dave with a surprised expression. When Hutton heard that question from Dave, he had a confused expression as he said.

"Am here to show you guys where the gathering is being held. Or do you know the place already?"

After hearing Hutton's answer, the four students suddenly had awkward expressions on their faces since they just remembered that they didn't even know the location of the gathering.

"Umm... no we don't, please guide us to the place," Dave said after some seconds filled with awkwardness.

'What is going on here?' thought Hutton as he looked at the faces of the students in front of him. Suddenly, a light bulb seem to pop out of his head as he got a glimpse of what was going on with the students.

After discovering what was going on, he decided to suppress his laughter as he turned in the opposite direction and said.

"Follow me"

After some minutes of silence in the group, they finally saw their destination. But when they saw the place Hutton said is the location for the gathering, they suddenly wore incredulous expressions on their face.

The location for the gathering was a tall black pagoda that had strange runes covered all over it. They could see a group of people at the front of the pagoda which confirmed that what Hutton told them was true.

"This is where we shall part ways. But Dave, do you still remember what I told you the first time met" asked Hutton as he put his pensive look on Dave. But Dave just smirked in response as he replied.

"Of cause"

And so with a relieved look on his face, Hutton flew away from the group. But immediately after he flew away, Jonah suddenly asked Dave.

"What did he tell you the first time, you guys met?"

Without even pondering on an answer, Dave replied.

"the only way to fulfill your desires in this world is through having unrestricted power. If you don't have it, you will eventually end up dying a meaningless death"

"..."

Silence reigned again over the students as they approached the people who were in front of the pagoda. Although they felt confused about why Hutton advised something a bit extreme to a small child, they chose to keep quiet since voicing their doubts could affect both Dave and Hutton's relationship.

Suddenly, the silence among the group became a bit tense when they saw the people in front of the pagoda up close. Although the people there were in the same age league as them with only a one or two years gap, what made them feel tense was that the weakest among the people there were peak Rank D practitioners!

While looking at the people who were also staring at them back, a thought suddenly came into Dave's mind.

'This is a gathering of monsters'

As soon as Dave's group joined the people in front of the gathering, a voice suddenly rang out above them.

"We shall now begin"

When everyone heard that voice, they all looked up to see who it was. Dave's group has already met him before while coming to the capital.

"Hello everyone. Am Lucas Drake and I shall be your host as you go through the selection phase"

With a confused expression on all the student's faces, they quietly watched Lucas Drake as he descended to the ground.

'Things are about to get messy' thought Dave as he quietly stared at Mr. Lucas.

(To be continued...)