The Aftermath

"Here." Kallen says sheathing his sword in another bright light and reaching out his hand. I take it and he pulls me up. "You've gotten stronger since before."

"Yeah, when I set my sights on something I tend to do whatever needed to get it." I say switching to my clothes. He nods and asks me to follow him. The training room cracks and disappears, replaced by the basement we were in before. He leads me back to the room we talked in prior and turns to Myla and Liz. "Sorry girls, I need to speak with Eric alone for now." Myla nods and Liz groans before the two continue down the hall. I sit back in the same seat I was in earlier and he does the same.

"So, did I pass your test?" I ask worried that he wanted us to be alone.

"Eric, sign this." He says tossing a scroll over to me. I open it and read it while he explains. "This is another pact I asked Liz to make. She's made lots of these though so she won't know we entered one. I'm about to ask you some question and this will prevent you from lying and prevent us from telling anyone about what you say."

"Us?" I ask confused.

"Yes, sorry about this Eric. We just need to be sure." I hear Sugano say, stepping toward the table. It looked like she came out of the wall. I see Kagiyama follow behind her, stepping out of the wall like it was water.

"Good, we're not late." Kagiyama says sitting. It's now I notice that they are wearing their armor and have their weapons.

"Is this why you asked to duel?" I ask Kallen nervously.

"Very astute. But don't worry, we didn't want you to run so I had to get you to drain your mana." Kallen answers. I sigh and sign the paper. What he said is true. The three of them have already signed it. It states that those involved will not tell lies while in this room and will not speak of what is said in this room to anyone, not even each other unless all four are present or they all agree to. The paper disappears and four small stones take its place. Three fly over to the others and one stays with me.

"Thank you Eric. And again I am sorry. We just need to make sure we can trust you." Sugano says, trying to calm me down but it fails.

"So Eric, why have you been getting stronger?" Kallen asks, getting strait to the point. I hesitate before answering.

"Is it fine to decline answering?" I ask and Sugano nods, I sigh before continuing. "Okay, so there's something I need to do and something I need to protect. So I get stronger to do that." I answer, trying to be vague.

"Eric, we added the clause to not speak about what you tell us so you can tell us what it is. Don't worry you can trust us." Sugano tries to reassure and user me to continue.

"I do understand why your doing this. I just can't go into more detail to protect it. The simple fact of the matter is that I can't entirely trust you guys. No offense, I'd like to but I have to be careful." The three seem to think it over, most likely using Suganos Stigma to communicate through telepathy.

"Okay, then ask us questions that'll get you to trust us." Kagiyama says.

"Have you ever killed anyone and why?" I ask causing them to go silent.

"You really don't hold back do you." Kallen says sighing. "But I guess I'll go first. Yes, I've killed two people. This was nearly 18 years ago when Myla was a baby. Her mother went to the bank with her and some Lynas attacked it. They were just trying to steal money. My wife tried to stop them, but she was never much of a fighter. By the time I got there, she was covered in burns and holding Myla in her arms. She used her body to protect her and died before we could make it. I hunted the Lyna responsible down and killed them in my rage. While I do think that I should've brought them in alive I don't regret what I did." He says all this with a solemn look on his face.

"I have killed six Lyna." Kagiyamas says, making me look at him. "They were trying to create a powerful undead. The spell they were using would drain them of there life **** and put it inside a dragons corpse. By the time I got there the spell had begun and the only way to stop it was to kill them. Just like Kallen I don't regret it, but there was more I could've done to prevent that outcome."

"As for me." Sugano says slightly raising her hand. "I've never killed anyone. I'm more of a supporter, so I rarely fight alone." I nod and think of what to ask next.

"What would you do if you found out something about me that you didn't like?" I ask them.

"That would depend on how we didn't like it. Like if it was that you were planning to kill someone, we would stop it and punish you accordingly. If it was something I personally didn't like, and wasn't illegal, I'd just try to ignore it." Kallen says before leaning closer. "But Eric trust me when I say this, I did raise Myla after all, but I know what it looks like when a young person tries to bear more weight than they can handle." I sigh hearing this.

"Jeez, I save your daughters twice and this is how I'm treated. I'd hate to see what you do to your enemies." I say with a smile. "But fine, I'll tell you a little bit at least."