The stone broke down, and from inside it, a light that indicates direction came out.

" Really!?"

​​

" Yeah, and from the brightness of the light, they shouldn't be that far. Let's go."

Looking at Elsa's face, Ray knew that it was an emergency, so he just followed Elsa's leads.

****

The two went in the direction which the broken stone has indicated. It was a forest in the outskirts of Maple-leaf city, and 5 minutes later, they found the trace of Adrian.

" What's with the stone before, by the way?"

" Oh, it was the emergency stone Ray. Adrian told me that we should leave a stone in the event of an emergency. The stone looks pretty normal and not suspicious at all, and only a few special people could detect the stone's presence. Luckily, I'm one of them."

Ray nodded at Elsa's explanation and didn't try to get her elaborate further. There were still many things about this world that he didn't know, and their current priority now was to find Adrian, George, and Sieg.

" Ray, over there. I found a torn clothed of Adrian on the trees."

They came to the trees and examined Adrian's torn clothes. Elsa found traces of blood there, and it made her became more worried.

" Let's speed up our search. I have a bad feeling about this. Elsa, call your fairy dragon; we will be searching from above."

Based on the association regulations, students like Elsa and ray should not have the right to summon their spirit beast in the wild, and they could be imprisoned if someone reported them. However, Ray got a very bad feeling about this. If this was related to the game's true villain, they must hurry before something bad happens.

Elsa, who was already filled with worries, didn't put much thought into it and summon her fairy dragon.

Ray and Elsa got on the Fairy's dragon back, and Ray summoned Schwarz to help them find the missing three.

*Swoosh*

The fairy dragon flew up to the sky with her fastest speed, traveling in the direction of the broken stone's light.

Riding on the dragon's back, Ray could feel Elsa trembling. It seems she was deeply worried about her two teammates.

Ray hugged Elsa from behind, trying to calm her.

" Ray, thank you."

Elsa, who felt Ray's hug, was slightly startled at first, but she quickly calmed down. That very hug had made her able to think rationally. With the dragon's power that Ray had shown before, there should be no problem ahead of them.

After a few minutes of flying, Ray and Elsa eventually find George, Adrian, and Sieg. They were tied up by a group of dark robes and carried like a sacrifice for a ritual.

From its look, Ray could conclude that the three were ambushed when they were battling each other.

That means from the start, the ruin was a trap. And the group of black robes people was targeting every people that get into the ruin.

" Ray, should we get into them directly?"

Elsa asked Ray with worries in her tone.

" Not now. Their situation wasn't that dangerous yet. Let's find out some information about this group of people, and if they were about to face some danger, we'll jump in and rescue them."

Ray replied with a calm tone to Elsa.

Even though Elsa was worried, she knew that Ray's words make sense. They should get some info about this group of people to avoid them in the latter days.

Elsa asked the fairy dragon to descend quietly without awaring the group of black robes, and they moved to find a good place for observation.

It was a big tree with a hole in its trunk. If they were normal people, they couldn't see what's happening outside, but Ray had the see-through glasses with him, thus enabling him to peek without getting caught.

" This should be good enough. I have my own way of observing them, Elsa. Please trust me."

Ray, who put on the see-through glasses, attracted Elsa's attention, and she had many questions to ask. But he signaled with his hand to not disturb him now. The see-through glasses could only make him see things but not hear them. So Ray must stay focused and read those guys' lips to know what they discuss in the ritual.

Soon, the ritual started.

Adrian, George, and Sieg were tied up in the middle of the altar with flame blazing next to them.

" My fellow believer"

A man with golden decorations on his black robe stood up and walked into the altar. From what Ray saw, he should be the leader among the black robes people.

" Today, we gather here to sing praise and sacrifice to our lord."

The group of black robes seems to be very enthusiastic. They cheered and sing at every word of their leader.

" Now, I will choose 3 of our most devoted believers."

The situation suddenly broke. The group of black robes raised their hand and sang their prayers like crazy, asking to be chosen as one of the three.

" Silence! The lord has given his will. Thamuz, Durga, and Singh, The Lord has seen your devotion. Come up and receive your rewards."

The three chosen people cried and sang their prayer one more time. They walked into the altar with the envy of other black robes people.

" Thank you for your kindness, Lord."

" Stop it, my child. It is the Lord who has chosen you. Now tell me, do you still remember the procedures of our ritual?"

Thamuz, Durga and Singh nodded at their leader, but their leader still explained the procedures as a formality.

From what Ray could see in their lips. This ritual was used to gain a new power as a new human. The chosen believer will drink a special potion given by their lord, then they will kill the sacrifice and eat their heart.

It was said that the heart of a Daoist stores the core of their spirit beast. Thus the one that eats the heart will gain the power of a spirit beast in human form.

As for the potion, normally, the human body wouldn't be able to tolerate the energy contained in the eaten heart and burst out. Thus, the potion would work to maintain the burst of energy and help the body adapt better at the newly gained power.