[Present time]

“Master… You promised…”

“Suda…”

“Quick, Yasubo hand me over the towel,” Suda exclaimed.

They carried Ryushi to his bedroom and laid him on his bed, who was still not entirely present with the state of his mind.

“Okay, you go and bring some hot water, I will head to Rani and get some medicals, please-” 

“Suda, you are stressing too much.” Ryushi interrupted.

“Are you sure you will be okay?” Yasubo said.

“Yes. I just need some rest…”

“Okay! Come, Yasu!” Suda said pulling Yasubo’s arm.

‘I need to talk with that young man. I will be able to trace him down thanks to the aura I gave him and his brother. But, I need some rest…’ Ryushi thought looking outside.

…

“Again, you seem too worried, Xy! We will find someone else, I promise.” 

“Zao, how many times have you promised me things you never actually held your word to.”

“What?! Remember when I promised I would be getting that delicious chocolate cake for dad’s birthday?”

“Yes. I ended up buying a new one because you ended up talking to a bunch of ladies and arrived so late.” Xy replied with an annoyed expression.

“I still brought it though. And what about when I-”

“Alright Zao enough about the promises, let’s just head home for now.”

“Urghhh…”

The two fled on Zao’s dragon onward Birane.

“Xy, we might have to walk a little until we get home, I’ll leave Pico at the Dragon’s Keep.”

*The Black Dragons Nation is known to care a lot for their dragons, at most cities, Dragon Keeps have been established, places where individuals with their Riders License (License for being able to ride a dragon) can put their dragons in exchange for a small fee.*

*See this as a kindergarten where a parent leaves their children with their friends, but, this time it's dragons.*

“That’s fine,” Xy replied.

A few minutes later, they arrived at Birane’s Dragons Keep, a large building mostly made up of a very strong type of stone, surrounded by a large circle of walls that all led to a vast open place.

“Hey, Zao! Bringing Pico again?” The gatekeeper said.

“Yes! How are you doing, by the way, Alex?”

“Doing good, I am glad to have gotten this job, can finally take good care of my wife and kids, you know!”

Alex lived in the Haozu nation but was forced to move somewhere else after he could not pay his bills anymore.

He had his hopes set on their neighboring Black Dragons nation, he knew about their Dragon’s Keeps and thought he could be helpful to them by building new cages and repairing the walls.

Alex was known to be an incredibly smart builder, as most people were from the Haozu nation.

He eventually got his job, and would eventually gain the trust of his upper men, and became the Gatekeeper, which paid off well. 

It was around that time that he met the lady who would later become his wife, she was also a poor individual, Alex gave her his helping hand, and they ended up living together, and fell in love.

Zao would later on become good friends with Alex as Zao often brought his dragon to the keep, ever since Alex became the Gatekeeper, they would spend hours talking with each other.

“That is lovely to hear. Well, here’s Pico.”

“Thanks, since you’re my good friend, instead of 25 brins, you can leave him here for free!”

“Oh Alex, you don’t need to do that!”

“It’s fine! See this as a returning good deed after you tipped me last week.”

“Man, thanks!” Zao replied.

“I’ll see ya soon, take care!” Alex said waving his right arm.

*Pico is known to be very hostile towards anyone other than Zao, Xy, and Alex*

The two brothers continued their path home through a vast place filled with sand and stony paths on which on the other end was a large forest they had to go through.

The place was designed for the Dragon Keepers to use whenever the dragons wanted to fly and play around.

“It’s good to see that he is doing well,” Xy said

“Indeed.”

Xy glanced at Zao as soon as they noticed another presence from behind them.

“Oi… There is no way these two weaklings have gotten their Hunter’s Aura!”

“Hahaha! The witnesses have gotten soft as f#ck!”

Upon turning their heads, they saw two individuals, both dressed in full white suits, they both had golden yellow hair color and blue eyes. They both expressed very sadistic expressions on their faces. One of the two was noticeably shorter than the other one.

“What do you want?” Xy asked.

“What do we want? No, what do YOU want?!”

“Haha, good one brother!”

“Let’s just go, Zao,” Xy said turning his head back forward.

But as soon as he turned around, one of the two taunters appeared right in front of them.

“You did not give me an answer, what do you want, you rat?”

“What did you call him?” Zao said with a soft but utterly intimidating voice, stepping in front of Xy.

“Trying to be a big guy, huh?” The taunter said.

Xy tried to hold Zao back because he knew that whenever Zao got angry, even Xy could not stop him.

“Listen, we’re not here for any troubles, just let us go,” Xy said.

Xy afterward grabbed Zao by his arm and they both walked past him, onward the forest.

“Who do you think you are for walking past me without permission.” The taunter said.

He walked towards Xy and went for a slash with his arms aimed at Xy’s neck, but as soon as he made contact, Xy let go of Zao, swiftly turned around, and caught his arm by his wrist firmly.

“I said that we are not here for any troubles, we can either solve this by simply going away from each other, or the both of us will be walking back home with scars on our bodies.”

“Oi, just leave that prick, let’s just go.” The other taunter said, walking onwards the other side.

He freed his arm from Xy’s grip and walked towards his brother.

“Heh, going away from each other? What a joke. You are lucky today, we’ll see you another time.”

Zao’s expression intensified with anger, but Xy wanted him to stay calm.

“Zao, let’s just go, alright?”

“Fine.”

‘Who the hell were they?’ Xy thought.