Chapter 5

Hadrian struggled to get Ethan's hand off the top of his head using his ability, so Ethan decided to make himself heavier from his blood cells down to his bones.

The ground couldn't support his weight, and it began to break. His weight on the hand holding Hadrian's head continued to go down.

Hadrian moved his head, but Ethan held it in place. "Don't think of escaping," Ethan said, smiling coldly. "Your neck is going to snap with the weight I'm putting on your head; isn't that exciting?" he asked with a sadistic look on his face. "So what are you going to do?" He wasn't asking Hadrian this question, but rather the old man.

Ethan saw the Curse of Restraint appear, and Ethan acted almost immediately. He raised his head and smashed his head against Hadrian's head.

The mark of the curse shattered like glass, and Ethan released his ability almost immediately. The door opens, and the elven man walks in with a dark aura emanating from him. "You came at the wrong time," Ethan said.

"I underestimated you," he said.

"You did," Ethan said. Hadrian was unconscious, and Ethan carried him over his shoulder.

"Even if you escape and return to the school, I guarantee you that you won't last a week in that school," he said.

"I know," Ethan said. "There are several students or maybe even teachers under your curse, or maybe it's someone else's, but just to be safe, I'll kill you just to release the ones you still have under your control."

"A hero? Killing?" The man said mockingly. "Don't make me laugh."

Instead of getting angry, Ethan smiled, turning his head sideways. "You didn't do your research before mindlessly asking Hadrian to capture me," he said, raising a finger. "I'm the Villainous Hero, and I'm not afraid of making you my first kill."

"Even if you kill me, it won't make a difference on the plans the Master has."

Ethan squints his eyes a little. 'So this means that he's useless to their plan,' he thought. He then smiled. "You are such an attention seeker."

'One, Two.'

Combination First and Second Rank: Black Hole.

"Die," he points his finger at the old man, and a dark little ball appears in his hand, eating away everything in its path as he shoots it. "Bye-bye; hopefully you suffer in the afterlife."

'Three-two.'

Combination Second and Third Rank: Space-Time.

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Emily was suspended from the academy for the rest of the session. How? Well, she planned a riot against the school's heads, manipulating the anxiety in students hearts and turning it into rage.

She is the first student in the academy to plan a riot and nearly get away with it.

To be honest, the riot was her plan to escape the academy, but getting suspended worked perfectly.

She returned to her apartment in a human city in the Central Realm and got ready to track Ethan. It's been three days since he's been gone; hopefully he isn't in a ditch somewhere, half dead.

Crystella has a tracking device on her phone in case something happens to her; that way, her family would be able to track her. Isn't familial love amazing?

Well, thankfully, she was able to hack the tracker, and when she saw Ethan's location, she was surprised to see the tracker say that he was in her location.

'That's weird.'

Her room became dark. She held on to the towel around her body tightly as she floated, as well as a lot of things in her room.

Ethan appeared in her room with Hadrian on his shoulder. She lands gently on her feet. Ethan was just about to say hello to her, but she grabbed a pillow and threw it at him. "Get out of here; I'm only wearing a towel!" she said.

Ethan looks at her blankly. "I've already seen you nearly naked," he said. "And it didn't do anything to me."

Emily grits her teeth. She remembers that moment. "Don't remind me of my youthful foolishness," she said. Then she had a huge crush on Ethan, like any hormonal teenage human girl who thought they'd met their prince charming. So she did what she read in books and certain movies and tried to seduce Ethan in an empty classroom, but it failed miserably, and she still cringes at what she did.

She heard a thud and saw that Ethan had dropped Hadrian on the ground. "What are you doing? My neighbors are going to complain!" she said.

Ethan then sat on the bed. "Neighbors?" he asked. "I thought every dorm room in Silver Field was soundproof."

"Do you think any Silver Field dorm looks like this room?"

Ethan shrugged. "I don't know, I've gone to any other dorm room," he said. "Is it?"

"Of course not!" Emily exclaimed.

Ethan looks around again. "Then where are we?" he asked.

Emily sighed. "We are in my apartment in one of the human countries' cities in the Central Realm," she said.

Ethan raised an eyebrow, indicating, 'Why are you here?'

"I used everyone's anxiety over your kidnapping to start a riot. Unfortunately, the riot didn't last long before the Arc of Heart came and used her siren's cry on everyone, including me, to let the heads know who's plan it was to initiate a riot. My reward in disguise is being suspended for the rest of the session."

Ethan nodded. "Was this an effort for the mission you were hired for?" he asked.

Emily shook her head. "No," she said. "One of my partners on the mission hired me; the reward is the Gem of Signare."

His eyes widen in surprise. "I thought that was crazy expensive," he said. "So what is the mission?"

"To save you," Emily replies honestly. There's no use hiding from Ethan; if he finds out without her telling him, then it will probably ruin their friendship.

"Is Crystella one of your partners?" he asked.

"I'm not allowed to say anything about that mission; it is bad enough that you know about the mission; I will not go further down on who is on this mission."

Ethan nods. "So the Arc of Focus is part of the mission," he said.

"Ethan!" Emily shouted.

They both heard Hadrian groan, and almost immediately Emily used her ability. 'Weapon Summoning.' She summoned a shotgun and aimed it at Hadrian's spine.

Ethan stops her before she can shoot him. Hadrian opened his eyes and sat up. He held the back of his neck and said, "My neck hurts."

His voice isn't as lifeless as it was before Ethan released him from the curse. But neither Emily nor Ethan trusted this. For all they know, he might be pretending.

Ethan steps forward and bends down to observe Hadrian.

Hadrian looked confused when Ethan bent down. "Who are y--"

Ethan grabs his face and looks into his eyes. "Wow, it actually works," he said.

Hadrian tries to move his face from Ethan's grip. But failed. 'His grip is strong,' he thought. "Who are you?" he asked.

Ethan looks surprised. "Do the people who are released from the Curse of Restraint lose their memories?" he asked.

"No," Emily replies, her shotgun disappearing. "It has never happened before," she said, walking to Hadrian, bending down to observe him as well. "He might need to see a doctor since he lost his memory."

"What are you guys talking about?" Hadrian asked, finally getting out of Ethan's grip. "Who are you guys, and why is she wearing just a towel?" he said, getting a bit flushed at Ethan.

"Now that's how to react when you see a girl in a towel, Ethan," Emily said.

Ethan shrugs. "Whatever," he simply said.

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They all sat in Emily's kitchen; Hadrian was sitting on his guard while Ethan and Emily were trying to choose what to order for dinner. "None of those things look very clean to eat," Ethan said.

Emily felt her eyebrow twitch in anger. "Well, you've never tried it before, so why don't you try it?" she shouted.

Ethan shook his head. "No!"

What Emily was showing him were various fast foods that Ethan had never seen before, and he doesn't like trying out new foods.

As Emily and Ethan were arguing, Hadrian sat in silence. They didn't tell him anything or explain what was going on. Emily kicked them out of her room, and he and Ethan sat in the living room. He wanted to speak to Ethan, but he was ignored because Ethan was looking everywhere in awe.

And when Emily came out, she decided that they should eat something before they explained anything to him.

But they've been arguing on what to eat for the past thirty minutes. "Maybe we can just buy some pizza," he said, making Emily and Ethan turn to him.

"What's pizza?" Ethan asked.

"It's a dough baked with sauce, cheese, and maybe a protein or vegetable," Emily explained.

"I'm lactose intolerant," Ethan said.

"And I am close to shoving a knife down your throat," Emily said calmly.

Ethan sighs. "You humans have weird foods," he said.

"You are also human!" Emily said while dialing a pizza place.

"Technically, I'm half human; Taegen said so himself."

Emily rolls her eyes. "Don't trust the man, who could easily pass as a homeless person," she said, standing up. "I'm picking the toppings, I don't want to argue with you for another hour," she said standing up and walking to the living room.

Ethan and Hadrian sat together in silence. "Hadrian."

"Yes," Hadrian replies, sitting up straight.

"What is the last thing you remember before you opened your eyes?" he asked.

"I was sent to the hospital after my cousin tried to kill me," he said.

Ethan nodded. That incident was famous in the news. But the problem is that that happened a year ago. The command from before that came at the last minute before he destroyed the curse mark. Was it a command for him to forget everything that happened when he was under the curse? "That slimy old man," Ethan hissed.

"Is there something wrong?" Hadrian asked, frowning.

"Yes," Ethan replies truthfully. "You see, that happened last year."

"What?" Hadrian exclaims in disbelief.

"Yep, you were under the Curse of Restraint for a year, and you don't remember, but let me put this short: the master of your curse ordered you to kidnap me after you took a sample of my blood. Fortunately for the both of us, I released you from the curse before he could do the same to me in two days, I think; I don't know what day it is. But that's all I know because I only met you the day you kidnapped me."

"Forgive me, but I don't believe you," Hadrian said honestly.

Ethan didn't mind; he didn't mind Hadrian not believing him. "It's fine; you don't have to believe me, but once Emily comes back in, she'll give you all the evidence you need."