Aftermath

The portal submerged the four as they escaped the incoming terror on the battlefield and dropped them at a hideout, a hideout which was built under an abandoned village, all four secured their landing and immediately examined the place for any threats. Barry laid Alan down and started to feed him mana in hopes of reviving his system which had been drained of.

Seeing desperate help in the eyes of Barry, Theo went around the place shuffling books and pots in search of something, a few moments later he found it and brought it towards Barry. He gently lifted Alan and made him drink some kind of liquid from a vessel while placing him down on the ground.

[True Flames have been activated]

A smooth wave of flame revolved around Theo's hand as he placed it on Alan's chest, making the flames spread over his body in a soothing effect. Alan's wound started to close up while he steadily regained consciousness.

"Alan, you okay.. please talk to me", said Barry.

Alan with his eyes fully opened sat upright acknowledging Theo's effort in healing him while trying to recognize the place he was in.

"Yeah, I'm fine thanks to Theo", replied Alan.

Breathing a collective sigh of relief, the tension in the air dissipated as they realized they had successfully evaded the threat posed by the Shadow's leader. However, a sense of confusion clouded the expressions of the three companions, accompanied by a flood of questions regarding their current location and the true identity of Theo. Despite the urge to seek answers immediately, they decided to table their inquiries for later. Instead, they lit a torch to illuminate their surroundings, only to find themselves utterly perplexed by their unfamiliar surroundings. Surprisingly, Alan seemed to recognize the place without hesitation.

Alan in a shocked state immediately stood up and dragged his hand along the wall with slight tears forming around his eyes. wiping them he looked towards Theo in an angered look and grabbed him demanding how he knew this place.

"Yo bro chill, get your hands off me. I don't know this place I just found it while traveling and finalized it as my safehouse, what's wrong with you?"

Alan without listening to another word activated his wind ability and thrusted towards the weak ceiling breaking it in the process and reaching ground level to acknowledge his surroundings. After a few moments of dead silence, he accepted the fact that this was it this was Alan's home, which was previously attacked by shadows, this was where he lost it all his family, friends everything.

Barry seeing Alan in this state realized something was wrong with him he jumped up to him and tried to console him but it was of no use, he couldn't shake Alan the thought that his parents died here. Barry realized he could do nothing and left Alan on his own, meanwhile, he had other stuff to worry about too.

He took out his sword and placed it before Theo's neck so that he might not try to escape or be able to use any of his abilities.

''Start Talking, who are you, from which clan do you belong, and how can you access so many skills of different styles?", asked Barry.

''Look man I'm not from around here, I do not belong to this land. I'm from the Izumi family which you have probably never heard of", replied Theo.

"How could this be, wasn't this land the only one blessed with the power of the rock that fell on that day?'', asked Barry.

"I guess not its fragments reached far from here but it is true the main stones reached this land, but apart from you many others possess powers of the Divine system", explained Theo.

"Well then explain how you have access to so many skills when you only received a mere fragment of the rock?'', Asked Barry.

"You see unlike you guys I had to work for my powers, you'll not understand like this let me demonstrate.", said Theo.

[Open Public Interface]

[User: Theo Izumi]

[level: 6]

[Ability: Theif]

[Skills: Hidden]

[Health: 50/50]

[Strength: 8]

[Speed: 10]

[Perception: 13]

[Intelligence: 14]

[Resiliance: 5]

Barry admired his stats and compared them with Alan's which proved to be very similar, it was as if he had been undergoing training for a long time to achieve such feats, Although a question still remained in his mind.

''Why are your skills hidden, explain your ability while you're at it", asked Barry.

"I am tired of these questions, my skills are hidden because I don't want to reveal them to some guys I just met, and secondly my ability grants me the power to steal the skills of a person I kill, I just have to extract their heart and my system will absorb it granting me the users abilities, now happy?", explained Theo.

 Barry and Shelby were shocked to hear about such a horrific ability but who were they to judge the power of the divine system?

"I have a few more questions so I may verify you under the light residence, Firstly what brings you here and leaving your land, and secondly how many people have you killed?", asked Barry.

"I just came here for the greed of power that's all, I'm the lowest ranked in my family, so I needed some way to gather more power to show them my worth so why not come to the place where the true power rests? And As for the people I've killed that would be more than 100, but you don't have to worry most of them were prisoners sentenced to death by my family and the rest were either thieves or enemies.'', replied Theo.

Barry felt relieved with the answer and with the sun coming up decided it was time to go and present Master with a new recruit, they all gathered up their stuff and were to depart but sensed the absence of Alan.

With no thought in mind, they all started to call out Alan's name but found no luck, time went by and with that, their anxiety also grew. But a hand on Barry's back comforted him and instructed him to follow.

[Sense has been activated]

Activating his ability, Theo unleashed a golden wave across the land, scattering particles in search of Alan's mana. Soon, the particles converged into a straight line, pointing towards the jungle, indicating Alan's location. With a sense of relief, the trio followed the signal, leading them to Alan seated serenely by the river, flanked by two rocks bearing the inscriptions "Julie Remorse" and "Mike Remorse" Alan's parents. Standing in solemn silence, the trio watched as Alan completed his prayer, then rose with a melancholic smile, gesturing for the team to depart.

[Alert has been activated]

"Uhm guys, the leader of shadows has tracked us!", said Theo.

The trio turned their gaze toward Theo, who wore a startled expression. They collectively understood the imminent danger and Theo's sincerity. A brief moment of silence ensued before they all activated their Aura to its maximum potential, preparing to evade the threat and swiftly move towards the residence, desperate to arrive in time.