Chapter 520: Assessing the Damage

"Damn! If you won't leave, I'll simply kick you out," Mr. E threatened with a wide smile over his face as if he was already enjoying doing so.

"Harsh and cold hearted father-in-law," Arthur shook his head in fake disappointment, "it's just not fair y'know."

"I can live with it," Mr. E said before waving his hand again. "Go and prepare, the moment the guards arrive you'll leave."

"Tsk," Arthur sighed as he moved outside with slow pace. The next moment Mr. E summoned a gale of wind that really carried Arthur away from the hall before the door was shut behind.

"That kid… he is really amusing," Mr. E laughed from inside the hall and Arthur heard these laughs before shouting, "I won't forget this."

And his shout made Mr. E's laughs be louder.

Arthur went outside the mansion where he only found his team waiting, beside Slone and Armondo who was wrapped totally in white bandages.

"How did it go?" Slone hurriedly asked when he spotted him.

"We'll go to the competition soon," Arthur briefly said before adding, "are the other teams ready?"

"In fact they thought we were dropping this time," Slone sighed before pointing towards Armondo who had his face only free from wounds and bandages. "Even Armondo here barely lived from this attack."

"Don't point at me," Armondo said before adding, "I was attacking everyone, but you stayed behind your shields and didn't attack much."

"Who can attack those freaks?" Slone shook his head, "you are lucky you weren't killed or taken hostage."

"It wasn't luck," Armondo sighed, "they targeted Amanda and Cesile from the start. Someone must have spread the news of how close the two were to Willy."

Arthur listened to their little fight and said nothing. He agreed with what Armondo said. "I'll go to prepare," he excused himself while moving towards his mansion.

"Don't get out of the academy on your own," Armondo suddenly said before adding, "there is a time where you have to fight, and another where you have to endure."

Arthur paused for a moment before saying, "thanks master for the precious advice. I'm not that thick headed or a fool to go to my enemies' trap head on without preparing."

He then continued to walk with his tema behind. The two masters watched him leaving while sighing.

"He will go after them," Slone helplessly sighed.

"You can't blame him for that," Armondo muttered, "youth are blessed with the fire of desire, and have luck on their side all the time."

"I hope you are right," Slone shook his head, "I can't tell lies here, but this fight is a loss for anyone seeking it from our side."

"Who knows," Armondo said as he turned to glance at the Mr. E mansion, "the master holds high hopes for him, even playing along his lies. If I'm sure about something then it would be in the master's decision and vision."

"Yeah, that's something I can't refute… stil…" Slone sighed again and said no more.

Arthur went towards the mansion of his but he didn't follow the direct route towards it. He took a long detour while thinking about what happened inside Mr. E mansion, the words of his godfather and also he wanted to assess the damage here.

"This… it's a total devastation," Arthur couldn't help but mutter when he saw the destruction everywhere. Many buildings were raised to the ground, and there were a lot still standing with gaps and missing parts everywhere.

As for the masters and disciples he met, they were all wounded, or burdened with such a heavy glance and sorrowful look.

"Even the shields are inactive now," he muttered when he noticed the previous protection shield standing at the inner academy zone was gone. "It seems the loss of Otman was so big," he sighed.

He turned around after seeing enough and during all this time his team was silent. The loss of here and back at the clan was heavy, and the ongoing threats in this world still left their shadows over them.

Arthur went to the mansion, and the first thing he did was to commence a meeting inside it.

"What happened here is now apparent to you, we are targeted by a very strong bunch of mercenaries. Many of our enemies are acting to help them, and any single mislep will cause us more damage."

He said before glancing at Madly, "My condolence to you for your loss. Grandpa Regil was someone dear to me. And the clan…"

He faked difficulty as he paused, took a deep breath before saying, "we have to stay away from the clan for now. Even staying here might look safe, but I believe this protection will only be temporary."

"I need revenge," Madly said in choked words. "Grandpa Regil sacrifice can't be for nothing."

"We'll have our revenge," Arthur promised, "but in time. We need first to prepare and be ready for the competition."

"Are we really going to participate in it? despite all the odds?" Omar asked.

"We have to," Arthur firmly said, "this competition is far more serious than you might think. We need backing, strong and real dependable backing. I made a deal with someone to help, but through this competition we can all have masters to sponsor us. This way we can be ready to take our revenge next."

"But…" Madly was persistent on taking revenge now, but Arthur stopped her by his hand. "We can't let Grandpa Regil's sacrifice be wasted. What good will happen if you threw out your life like this? We are weak, let's face it and don't delude ourselves with any other facts. We are vulnerable, and we need to plan things right and be very careful or else we won't get nothing but death."

His words silenced everyone, and he just sighed before adding, "I'm not in the mood to lose any of you. You are the future of my clan, a real powerhouse. You only need time and proper guidance to reach your goals."

"When can we leave then?" Amelia asked.

"Is it safe to leave?" Gor asked.

"It's not safe yet," Arthur admitted, "but soon strong guards will arrive and secure us all. They will accompany us to the place of the contest."

"Seems a bit risky to me," Omar sighed.

"Can't we look for direct transportation there?" Deem said before adding, "I believe this isn't hard for the academy."

Arthur thought for a moment there before saying, "there must be something blocking such technique, or it might have been destroyed. You saw the masters, their reaction meant there is no other way but going there on foot."

Everyone sighed, as thinking about directly moving towards the location of the contest was appealing to all. "Is it safe there?" Deem asked again, "at the contest location?"

"As far as I know it's alright," Arthur said before adding, "we can get more info from masters here. Spread up and gather more data regarding this contest and the location and protection there before leaving."

"Leave this to us then," Amelia said before adding, "you need to rest. My condolence for the loss of the clan."

Everyone repeated her words, even Madly, who seemed distracted in her personal loss.