Double Cross.

"Brother Zuko do you truly intend to not pursue this path but that one."

"Thanks my friend but I have already made my decision." Zuko left both brothers to their work. He was never interested to interfere in their internal matters, besides, Zuko never in the true sense accepted him as his friend, but that did not mean that Zuko was a bad person but instead he helped to show his goodwill as well as to not let someone as good as Royan down, he also knew that they might never meet ever again and even if they did so, Royan will not be able to recognize him.

It turned out that Royan had planned to join one of the three top academies in the capital, he was determined to avenge his brother for that he had to acquire power so he was going to leave for the capital as soon as his brother got better.

On the other hand, Zuko left the town the next day alongside his mentor. He already had the ticket -his mentor, to the capital, and also had no other work to do in the town so he left very early the next day without biding any type of farewell to anyone. As he was always on his own and never had befriended anyone the whole time, in fact, he was not at all well-known person before.

Zuko was not a fool to follow his mentor for no reason, he had already thought it over many times which path to pursue, hence to his understanding and goals he thought following the professor had more benefits than to go on his own. Also, Zuko knew that his mentor was aware of Zuko's capability, in fact, it was Zuko who had helped him got invited by the Soul-Fire academy otherwise own his own he had been trying for many years, that was why professor agreed to give Zuko many benefits which included that he would provide Zuko with all and every bit of research, plus he was responsible to complete all of Zuko's other needs, in return Zuko was supposed to help him in his research. Also, Zuko could become the disciple of the Soul-Fire academy and could still practice arts in his free time. Overall this deal was more advantageous than the other one that was the reason why Zuko made this decision.

It was not a long journey as they reached the capital the same day in the night. When they entered the capital, it brought a great surprise to Zuko. The capital was at least ten times more splendid than the town. Everyone single man here was elite or royal blood. Everything was different here, the town seemed like a village compared to this place.

Zuko already knew quite a lot about the capital from Royan, he knew that three powers resided in the capital and those three powers were following the one and only 'Skull and Bones' which was the ruler of the entire continent. Among the three powers, the one that his teacher was invited by was called Soul-Fire Academy, it was in the far west of the capital. As for the other two powers, one was Demon-Oracle, this power resided in the east near the capital whereas the last one was Demon-Shadow, this power sat in the west near the capital.

Since his teacher was invited by the Soul-Fire Academy so he had some basic knowledge about the academy. Soul-Fire academy was weakest among the three powerhouses but it was not neglected at all, in fact, it stood on the same level as the other two powerhouses, and that was because its strong area was research but not the battle. Throughout the years it had accumulated a sea of knowledge and carried researches. 'Skull and Bones' was known for its undead army in which the Soul-Fire academy had a great contribution.

If Zuko's teacher was not invited by this power, Zuko would have never accompanied him rather he would have joined this power via his fighting career.

Upon reaching the administration block, both the teacher and his student was showed their respective place to reside. It turned out that a palace was allotted to both of them where they were given all the facilities needed by them. The palace was big enough that it held labs, a library, a gym, and many cultivation rooms where one could easily focus on his arts. They were also given servents to do chores and other required stuff. They had a personal transport system since the academy was very vast, they could use them for their ease.

Zuko's teacher was very glad to see such luxury, he was smiling from ear to ear. Zuko was calm, he checked his place and then closed himself behind the door. He was already cultivating. Inside the room, he was sitting cross leg and fire twice the size himself was lit in that cultivation chamber, the temperature had raised by many degrees even water could evaporate under that extreme heat but Zuko was sitting in a very calm manner. He was practicing his fire art at that time.

Soon he was drained of his energy and he felt very weak. He was just about to leave the chamber when the professor knocked at the door, "Jace, wake up my boy, it's already morning. Breakfast is ready, be fast we will be then going out for a ride."

"Morning already," mumbled Zuko with himself. "I will be there professor."

After breakfast, they both went for a ride around the campus. The academy extended for miles if compared, it was even greater than the Wild-Fire town, it was not only larger but also well established. The markets, research center, academic block, and the library, all of these were several times more advanced than the ones in the town. Above all, there was a special hall that was very grand and was also the only restricted area in the academy, it was a place where only the elites of the academy were able to come and go. This place was 'Soul-Fire hall'. Here the most important tasks were carried out.

Zuko was not aware of what was there but according to his mentor, it was a place where they would do their research on deads, souls and perform black magic.

When they were in the market, Professor excused himself and went to do some shopping, and Zuko was left to take a stroll around the market. He was also given a credit card that belonged to Professor and had around twelve hundred credits in it. The credit system was the same as for the Wild-Fire academy, the points awarded by the academy was the currency of the academy.

There was a currency exchange system that could change the points into the capital's currency but the opposite was not possible. Hence if one had to go shopping outside, they could utilize the provided facility.

As Zuko was roaming in the market, he came to know that many of the things that were valuable in town were very common here, form different types of cores to all types of alloys and many types of different weapons. There were many level-3 weapons, armors, and shields. He even came by the string armor that Illusionist was using in the competition against him and other participants. Many other things brought him a great amount of surprise and shock but Zuko did not do any shopping all day. When he felt that there was nothing else to surprise him, he immediately returned to his place.

Since Professor was still out there and Zuko had a lot of time, he opened the intercom and started the study about the academy and the capital, its geography, history, and other important details. It turned out that Soul-Fire was the smallest power among the powers of the capital and also the weakest. He went through all the important details of the academy that were provided by the system. Like the courses that were thought here, different departments, yearly competitions, and the path of advancement in the academy in all the fields. There was not too much on the capital either but some general things were there to go through.

When he was finished, it was already dark and Professor also returned just then. When he came he was all smiles, "Jace my boy, I have got my access to my research we can start any time we want. I have already made a copy of everything," he put everything down and passed Zuko a flash disk, that had all the data. "and you will be getting your ID very soon, in three or four weeks, until then how about you focus on my research when you are done, your ID too will be ready at that time."

"Sure why not, that is indeed a good idea," Zuko answered. "I need some more credit if that is possible because I need to buy something at the market."

"Sure, I will, how much."

"Around eight thousand. Is that possible?"

"That is a lot, but don't worry I will manage it in three days." Frowned Professor.

Inside his room, Zuko was sitting cross legs he was practicing his disguise art, right now he had taken the disguise of his mentor. "So I have got only three days to take care of this matter."

That night Zuko kept on practicing his disguising arts till the dawn. "System, what is my progress?" Asked Zuko in a low voice as he was very tired.

"Your progress is ninety-three percent." Answered the system in a mechanical female voice.

"That is near, I can do it even before the required time." Mumbled Zuko then he fell on his bed and slept.

Meanwhile, Royan was selected by the Demon-Oracle academy which was strongest among the three powers. He was already under intense training by the first hall master of the academy, who was only second to the voice-chief of the academy.

Royan was very determined to become strong and avenge his brother and also to hold a position strong enough so that he could take in his brother into the capital.