"I am no primal. I don’t even know what that thing is. There must be some misunderstanding."

"Yeah. We are kids and will believe anything you say." Sol mocked.

"I can’t say about your sister but aren’t you really a kid? How old are you? 15? 16 at best?"

"You!" Sol was enraged. "Like you are one to talk. You are barely two to three years older than me." Sol shot back.

"Well I am 18 and also a registered citizen in Delvan. So yeah, I can call you a kid."

"You are from Delvan?" The girl suddenly asked.

Leon looked at her. "Yeah. You still think I am some primal or whatever you were calling me earlier?" 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

"Have you heard about the ’Phantom Legion’ guild?" She didn’t reply and asked a question instead.

"Phantom Legion? Who doesn’t know about one of the world’s top three guilds? Jason Flemming. He is like a myth. One of the world’s only five Disaster-class knights." Leon spoke like a fanboy, admiration dripping with each word. "And it isn’t just him. His whole family is full of monsters. His wife, Susan Frost, is an S-class knight with dual ability. Both a swordswoman and an ice magic wielder. Then there is their firstborn. Emily Flemming. She is only 20 but already an S-class knight. Sometimes I wonder if she had started training in her mother’s womb."

What Leon didn’t notice was the smirk spreading across Sol’s face.

"Jason Flemming has two brothers and one sister. All of them, their spouces, their children... All are freaks of nature." Leon continued.

But suddenly the smirk vanished from Sol’s face. "You forgot to praise Emily’s brother."

"Oh yeah. Emily Fleming has a younger brother too. He is also good. I guess."

Sol’s eyes twitched. "Only good?"

"Yeah. Wh...." Leon was about to continue but suddenly froze.

"Wait." He looked at Sol then at the girl.

"Sol." He whispered. "Sol Flemming." His eyes darted between them again and again.

"Sister. Brunette hair. Blue eyes."

Leon raised a trembling hand and pointed at the girl. "You... You are Emily Fleming? The Scarlet Frost?"

Sol smirked. "So you do know about us." He said triumphantly.

’Damn! They are really the Flemming siblings.’

"W-well, it’s really my honor to meet you two." Leon said respectfully as if he were standing in front of his college principal.

Emily had already lowered the sword. But suddenly, her hand moved. The blade moved, its tip raking a small furrow in Leon’s hand.

Her move was swift. Precise. The wound wasn’t deep, but enough to draw blood.

Leon jumped back. "What was that for? The misunderstanding should have been cleared by now."

Emily looked at the wound.

"It wasn’t... But now... It is."

Following her gaze, he looked at the wound on his hand. A small cut. A thin line of blood coming out.

"How can you still use magic? What’s your affinity?" Emily asked.

’Affinity? Like I have any. Should I say reinforcement magic? But she already saw me pulling out the booklet. If I say reinforcement magic now, she may get suspicious. I should have been more careful. Having two affinities isn’t impossible but it isn’t common either.’

"It’s summoning magic. I can summon weapons." Leon said finally.

"I had a hunch. But you still didn’t say how you can still use magic?"

"Well, I don’t know that either. Maybe the suppression of everyone’s abilities has some limit? And all abilities aren’t affected?"

Emily fell into deep thought. ’That’s possible. After all, we didn’t have any summoning knight with us. And he has heard about us. His blood is also red. So he is clearly from Earth.’

"Alright. We trust you. At least for now."

Both Emily and Sol relaxed. Leon also breathed a sigh of relief.

"So what about you? How did you guys end up here? And why are you still in this area? Aren’t you afraid you will end up dead with no magic?"

"This is safer than you think. The only danger here is the Mongrols."

"Mongrols?" Leon’s eyes narrowed.

"Yes. The monsters and beasts we fight in the dungeons. They are called mongrols."

Leon went silent at that. ’Beasts and monsters are called mongrols? Why did I never hear something like this? Is this some kind of high-class information? After all, they are from the Flemming family.’

Then, as if remembering something, Leon spoke again. "What about primal. Earlier, you called me a primal."

"They are also monsters and beasts. But they are more dangerous. They have brains. They can talk."

Leon’s eyes widened. "What?"

"And..." Emily started but her voice trailed off.

"And?" Leon pressed.

"They can shift." She said.

"They can shift? What do you mean?" Leon was puzzled.

"She means Primals can change their form and turn into humans. Or they can look like humans if I say precisely." Sol replied this time.

Emily was looking at Leon with scrutinizing eyes as if she were trying to see through him. ’He doesn’t seem like he is acting.’

Leon stayed silent for a long time before opening his mouth again. "How long have you been here? How can we get back?"

"No idea. At least for now. We are hiding here because we don’t want to play Harold’s game. And in the meantime, we are also trying to find a solution. A way to leave this place for good." Emily said.

"What game?"

"Every now and then, space rifts would bring a group of either 5 or 10 people here. Harold arranges a competition when the total number of people trapped here exceeds forty. Then he divides them into groups. Each group of five." Sol started explaining the situation. "And then...." He paused after that, his face becoming gloomy.

"A death tournament." Emily finished for him. "The teams fight against each other. And the winning team will be allowed to leave this place. Others? Defeat is only accepted when one is dead."

"Y-you mean..." Leon stammered. "Out of forty, only five can live?"

Emily nodded.

A hushed silence fell.