Bryan's Date

"Hey Bryan?" Cristina called out.

"Yeah?" Bryan tried to focus, ignoring the teasing remarks from his brothers.

"Treat this as a friendly reminder."

"What is it?"

"If you weren't aware, Melissa is a part of a big family amongst many others. I assume you know there would be power struggles between the big families." Cristina explained.

"And you think Melissa is gunning for Bryan to increase her family's status?" Ash frowned and asked.

"Yeah, I believe so." Cristina said with pure concern.

"Maybe, maybe not. I never thought of settling down. First and foremost, I just want to enjoy life." Bryan smiled.

"As long as you know." Cristina sighed and said.

"Thanks, Cristina."

"Anytime." Cristina waved her hands and left the group. Soon, the five brothers were walking towards their beach house.

"What do you guys think I should do?" Bryan asked.

"Meet her and see how it goes." Ash simply said.

"I'm pretty sure you'll figure it out if there's something wrong." Ray said while twisting his fingers.

"Right, might as well meet her." Bryan shrugged.

"Oh right, what stages did you guys reach?" Ash curiously asked.

"4th Stage." Algo said.

""Same here!"" Bryan, Ash and Ray simultaneously said.

"What about you, Asif?"

"5th Stage but I feel like I'm close to breaking through to the next stage." Asif said while flexing his fist.

"Dayum!" Ash whistled.

"Wow..." Ray amazingly said. 'I gotta cultivate even harder!'

"Fuck man, I don't have patience for this but I still have to it." Ash complained.

"Me too, but I always think about the different cuisines I can get to try once I become strong enough to explore the universe." Algo dreamily said.

"Oh how about that. You're smart, Algo." Ash said with beaming eyes.

"What are you thinking?" Bryan sighed and asked.

"Well to experience the different cultures and traditions of the numerous unique civilizations out there, I have to be strong." Ash nodded.

"You just wanna see the female aliens." Ray called him out.

"Noo...." Ash looked away.

"Don't worry, me too. I wanna explore the entire universe." Ray excitedly said.

"A space fanatic and a pervert. God bless us all." Bryan closed his hands and said.

""Fuck off!""

"Hahaha!"

They reached home and immediately started cultivating. Well, most of them were since one of them loves to eat. After a few hours of cultivating, they took a break from it and were relaxing at the beach.

"Guys, what came first, the chicken or the egg?" Ash casually asked.

"Shut up." Bryan said while laying down on the bed of sand.

"Tsk."

Ray was gazing at the stars and asked, "Why is there dust at the center of the Industry?"

"..."

"Hahahahahaha." Ash laughed out loud.

"Why does your name spell stupid?" Bryan mocked.

""Hey!""

"It's going to be 6 soon, shouldn't you go meet your girlfriend early?" Asif pointed out.

"Argh, you're right. I'll go get dressed up." Bryan stood up.

"K-I-S-S-" Ash was teasing Bryan before he got sand thrown at his face.

"Enjoy the taste of sand." Bryan said before walking away.

*Ptooey*

"Ughh..." Ash spat out whatever entered his mouth.

"Okay, I'm bored. What do we do?" Ash asked in boredom.

"Come, let's fight." Asif stood up and dragged Ash away.

"Oh for fuck sake!" Ash blamed himself for opening his mouth.

In the beach house, Bryan dressed up, wearing a blue v-cut t-shirt and dark blue jeans. He checked himself in the mirror and after everything was perfect, he left the house.

-Meanwhile at the crossroads-

The crossroads is a famous public spot in the academy. Students come to visit at the crossroads to bask in the serene atmosphere. At the center of the crossroads is a beautiful fountain adorned with a fairy-like statue.

There are rows of red trees and pink trees lining up against each path of the crossroads, almost making it wonderland-like.

Near the fountain, Melissa could be seen sitting on a bench talking to someone with her phone.

"-going according to plan."

"Yes, he's on his way to meet me right now."

"I know everything is riding on this. I will do my best"

"Yes!"

"Thank you." She put down her phone and sighed.

"Hey!" Melissa jumped up with surprise when she saw it was Bryan who called out.

"When did you reach?" Melissa said, trying to calm down her slight nervousness.

"Haha, just now. I'm sorry for making you wait."

"No worries, I didn't wait long."

"Shall we?" Bryan put out his hand. Melissa smiled and took his hand.

They were waking down on one of the crossroads path, accompanied with red trees. They were admiring the beautiful picturesque scene while engaging in small talks.

"So, what brings you here to the academy?" Melissa asked.

"To be honest, I and my brothers had no clue about the magical world until the day before the examination." Bryan honestly said.

"You're joking, right?" Melissa questionably asked.

"Nope, ask Old man Reid if you want to."

"Old man Reid?"

"Oh right, my bad. The Vice-Director of the academy is or at least was the Manager of our orphanage. Who would've thought that." Bryan lightly laughed.

"Yeah, that's big news..." Melissa lowly mumbled while thinking about something. Bryan observed this but didn't say anything.

"What about you, Melissa?"

"Hmm?"

"Haha, when or how did you find out about magic?"

"Ah, because of my family. There are some notable mages in my family, and I guess the tradition of introducing magic to the next generation runs deep."

"I see."

"Still, it's a surprise to see you and your brothers come out of nowhere and shock the academy."

"None more than us." Bryan smiled.

"So, who's the eldest amongst you five?"

"That would be Algo."

"I thought you'd be the eldest looking at your height."

"Haha, I'm the second youngest."

"Wow, I didn't expect that."

"Nobody does..." Bryan sighed and laughed.

Sounds of laughter could be heard echoing amongst the red trees, creating a pleasant scene. They both talked for an hour or two before visiting the cafeteria to grab some food and it seems like it won't stop there for now.

-Meanwhile somewhere in the academy's basement-

There was a large structure placed or built in the basement and before it, stood one golden robed man. The structure could be described as a circular large ring embedded into the floor with runes seemingly ancient-like, engraved on the ring-like structure.

There were exactly 10 runes equally placed on the ring structure and exactly 10 tube-like pedestals where something can be placed on it.

"Just one trip consumes a lot of our resources to activate the portal but in this case, I couldn't care less." The Director or Alexander, who stood before the large portal took out a pouch and grabbed a handful of vibrant and lustrous elemental ores and places them on all 10 pedestals.

These elemental ores were evidently of a higher grade than what Old man Reid used on the teleportation platform at the Rainbow orphanage.

After placing the elemental ores, the runes on the portal lit up sequentially from left to right. When they finished being lit up, a swirling yellow miasma-like screen slowly appeared in the portal.

"This marks the first step towards Earth's victory." Alexander resolutely said and entered the portal.

After a few seconds, Alexander opened his eyes and saw himself in an unfamiliar place or rather world. He looked around and observed that he was in a hall of some kind.

"Welcome back, Alexander!" A tall orange faced figure resembling a human with three horns on his head and a pair of green eyes appeared and greeted Alexander.

"Thank you, Abhura." Alexander nodded.

"Are you ready to meet with the delegates of the Universe Alliance?" Abhura asked.

"I am."

"Follow me."

Alexander followed Abhura out of the hall and walked into an another room connected through a passage. In the new room was a giant circular conference table with 15 seats, and there were 12 different figures sitting around the table.

"Please take a seat." A red hard-shelled humanoid creature with three eyes and numerous thin-like protrusions on its head, offered Alexander a seat.

"Thank you." Alexander replied in kind.

"Let's get down to business, shall we?" A green reptilian creature with four hands and two antennas commenced the meeting.

"In regards to the temporary protection the Universe Alliance have offered to the civilization of Planet Earth, it has come to our notice that there is only a period of one year left."

"If you weren't aware, the Aeron star field is hosting a tournament where anyone under the Elemental Formation stage can participate. Of course, there are prizes for those who excel at the tournament. I'm sure you would be interested-"

"Let's cut the chit-chat. I'm aware of the tournament and the rewards." Alexander cut off the green reptilian creature and said.

"And?" The green reptilian creature gave no reaction to being cut off and instead monotonously asked.

"Planet Earth will be participating." Alexander confidently said.

"Can you state the name of the five participants?" This time, a pale grey coloured creature with no eyes asked, ready to note down the names.

"Algo Killian, Ash Frudae, Asif Vizier, Bryan Pine and Ray Angelo." Alexander stated one by one. The pale eyeless creature noted it down on a paper of some kind, giving off a weird sight.

"You may leave now." The red hard-shelled creature concluded the meeting.

"Thank you." Alexander nodded and left with Abhura who was patiently waiting by the door.

After Alexander left, a huge yellow-coloured figure with protruding sharp teeth scoffed and said, "He is cocky for being part of a civilization that is barely considered a low-level."

"He doesn't know the enormity of the vast universe, there are generational monstrous talents that will be participating in the tournament." A figure shrouded with pure darkness mocked.

"Enough, let's get on with the next meeting." The red hard-shelled creature interrupted and ordered. 'These fools don't know Alexander like I do. Hmm, it looks like I have a reason to attend the tournament.'

Outside the conference room, Alexander and Abhura were walking back towards the portal room.

"Alexander, you seem confident despite the time limit on Earth's protection." Abhura curiously said.

"Haha, come to the tournament and you'll find out."

"Surely you jest." Abhura lightly smiled.

"I'm not, Abhura."

"What's your source of confidence? Is it the five participants that you have chosen?" Abhura questioned while they reached the portal platform.

"You'll know during the tournament." Alexander smiled. Abhura didn't say anything and waved his hands, activating the portal.

Before entering the portal, Alexander turned around and said, "It's time for Earth to rise up."

And with that, he entered the portal leaving Abhura speechless for a while. He shook his head and left the room to its previous desolate state.

-Back at the academy-

Bryan and Melissa just finished having dinner and were having a late night stroll amongst the many other beautiful paths.

"This academy is definitely something else with showcasing natural beauty." Bryan smiled lightly, enjoying the walk.

"The academy wants us to be in tune with nature similar to how elemental energy is harmonious with nature." Melissa slowly explained.

"With nature huh..." Bryan uttered.

There was a brief moment of silence and Melissa couldn't hold it in anymore and asked, "Bryan?"

"Yeah?" Bryan turned to look at her questioningly.

"I really enjoyed the time we had today and I was wondering if we could maybe start a new rela-"

"I'm sorry." Before Melissa could finish what she had to say, Bryan interrupted her.

*Sigh*

"I should've maybe told you before or maybe not. I don't know." Bryan sighed.

"Tell me what?" Melissa questioned with a bad feeling in her heart, not liking how she was interrupted.

"I heard the entire conversation you were having on your phone at the bench." Bryan said, feeling a bit upset.

Melissa was instantly rendered speechless and didn't know what to say.

"Although I knew about it, I still wanted to try it you know?" Bryan smiled. "I'm sorry if you were hoping for something out of me but I can't comply."

"I-I-"

"It's alright. You don't have to say anything. I'm pretty sure we both had fun, but let me tell you something."

Melissa just looked at him dumbfoundedly, waiting for him continue.

"You're here in this world for you, not for them." Bryan gently said.

He smiled and left, waving the still stunned figure a goodbye. Under the ethereal glow of the moonlight, a line of tear glistened as it fell towards the ground.