?


    (Back to Present Time.)


    Dragon Pce, Night.


    After enjoying the fireworks and all the different aspects of the festival, the group finally came back to the dragon pcete at night to rest.


    Each one of them had bought at least one or two things for themselves or for those they cared for.


    Liam bought things that he could use for his summoned beasts, and Sin bought some parting gifts that she would give to the group when it would be time to leave.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Link and Rio both bought phone covers for Lia and Riya.


    Lia assisted Riya in choosing a shirt, as she was also buying one for Rio.


    In other words, the whole group enjoyed the festival to the fullest, and after watching the fireworks show, they came back to the dragon pce with smiles on their faces.


    "This was an amazing trip; all the fatigue I built up from those three days of evaluation tests has been washed away~"


    Hearing Liam''s words, Link nodded his head.


    "Yeah, the dragon race really does know how to organize amazing festivals; they seem to have taken inspiration from many cultures across the world..."


    To improve their festival''s diversity, they researched how other races enjoy their festival and added a lot of things from them.


    The various games, like shooting toys to win prizes, etc., were actually learned from humans.


    Aside from that, Elf''s have the most environmentally friendly fireworks that don''t cause much pollution at all.


    "The Dragon Valley is a fascinating ce; I would love to visit it again someday..."


    At Rio''s words, Sin sighed.


    "They don''t organize such festivals every day, you know... the next time you will see this festival in hundreds of years!"


    "But well, even if youe at a time when there''s no festivals, the Dragon Valley has a lot of amazing ces to explore and enjoy... I believe you will be delighted to see the scenery here..."


    Rio and the rest of the group knew that the evaluation test must have been the main event for theming here; now that it''s done, it won''t be long before the time to head back home


    comes.


    The Dragon Valley is indeed a fascinating ce, but this isn''t their home after all; they came here because they were given the mission to go and visit the Dragon Valley.


    Now that things are mostly sorted out and they have already enjoyed themselves to the fullest, it would be rude if they stayed here for too long.


    As guests, they should know basic manners and must consider that staying too long in someone else''s ce is not a good thing.


    "Good thing you invited us all, princess; otherwise only Link would have had the opportunity to enjoy all this..."


    Hearing Liam''s words, everyone looked at Link and gave him weird looks, which made Link feel awkward.


    "It''s not like I personally asked him to not invite you; why are you ming me for that... tch! You guys really like to find random reasons to me me for everything..."


    While talking about various things along the way, the group finally entered the pce''s main hall.


    Originally they were nning on separating here to go to their own respective rooms to rest, but when the group reached the main hall, they all stopped talking and stood still on the spot. A man wearing a silver crown and an extremely dense aura was sitting on a chair in the hall. A butler was pouring wine into the ss that he held in his left hand; his luxurious clothes made it obvious that he was no ordinary man.


    "Ah, wee back everyone. I have already introduced myself to Link, but I got dyed by something and didn''te to see the rest of you..."


    "My apologies for that. I am Idriud Izirzru Raos De Draconia, the King of the Dragon Valley... I wee you all in the dragon valley personally..."


    Although the group had heard about Idri from Link, they hadn''t personally seen him themselves.


    Seeing him now, all of them felt an invisible pressure on themselves, Just by sitting there, Idri was causing the space-time fabric to bend and tremble around him.


    His presence alone is terrifying enough to make weak-hearted people faint on the spot.


    Rio and the others wanted to say the greetings while introducing themselves, but Idri waved his hand and stopped.


    "No need, I know all of you, The ''Silver Dawn'' Lia Silver, The ''Dragon Master'' Liam Aldif, The ''Healing Sage'' Riya Croft, andst but not least, The ''Champion'' Rio sh..."


    "It''s nice to meet you all in one ce... It''s not every day that we get to see such talented people in one ce altogether... The human race is indeed blessed to have so many talented children among them..."


    Hearing the dragon king''s words, arge frown appeared on Sin''s face.


    "Father... what brings you here at such ate hour?"


    Sin knows her father quite well; he wouldn''t just randomly appear somewhere out of nowhere; he must have a reason to appear here; otherwise, he wouldn''t havee at night.


    He would have rather invited them over to the throne room if things weren''t urgent, which means something is definitely going on right now.


    Idri ignored Sin''s question and nced at Liam before saying,


    "Boy, do you know that your father... Neo Aldif has alsoe to the Dragon valley? I want to ask how he got his hands on the token..."


    Liam was taken aback for a moment after hearing those words, but then a look of rity appeared in his eyes, and he told Idri everything that Neo did before they came to the dragon


    valley.


    It was Neo who had pressured them to show the token; otherwise, they wouldn''t have given it.


    Hearing Liam''s words, Idri nodded his head and nced at Link before asking.


    "Link... What is Ashtel doing nowadays?"


    Link was a bit confused at that question, but then he replied honestly,


    "Father is currently in seclusion, actually..."


    The dragon king nodded his head, and a look of understanding appeared in his eyes.


    "Ah, I see, no wonder Neo dares to be so reckless... There''s no one keeping an eye on him right now, and he''s free to move around in Ashtel''s absence..."


    Idri got up from his seat and nced at the group before saying.


    "The thing is, Neo Aldif came to the Dragon Valley without permission... then I had a small quarrel with him near the dragon temple... After that, I allowed him to stay in the dragon


    valley for a while..."


    "But the problem is that Neo Aldif went missing two days ago... I had asked a few subordinates to keep an eye on his whereabouts, but since two days ago, there''s been no news


    about him..."


    "It''s as if he disappeared into thin air..."


    Idri knew that Neo came to the Dragon Valley with some ulterior motive, and there''s no way he will leave by himself willingly so early.


    Something must have happened that he disappeared so fast, and Idri wants to find out about


    it.


    "My subordinates are still searching in the ce where his presence wasst sensed; I came here to personally ask for your help, Liam Aldif..."


    "You are his son after all; you know him better than anyone else. So, what do you think?


    Where could he have gone?"


    Liam literally had no idea why Neo woulde to the dragon valley and why he would


    suddenly go missing.


    In the first ce, Liam himself doesn''t know if he has ever met the real Neo in his whole life.


    Most of the time, Neo uses his clones to appear in front of others, so even Liam doesn''t know if he has ever met his real father before.


    Although Liam can now figure out the difference between a clone and the real one as he now has ''Mana Field'', he had no idea about it before.


    "I-I am just as clueless as you, your majesty... I don''t know why he woulde here. I have long known that he''s not a good person, but I don''t have any idea what he could be aiming


    for..."


    Idri still kept pressuring Liam and asked,


    "Are you telling me the whole truth, Liam Aldif... You know, I can see what you have been trying to hide ever since you came to the dragon valley..."


    "I will forgive you for bringing ''that'' here, but you must tell me about all that you know


    about Neo''s ns..."


    Hearing Idri''s threat, Liam gulped his saliva and started to think hard.


    ''Something that he might be aiming for?...''


    Thinking about this, only one thing came to his mind.


    "Er... The only thing that I can think of is that he always urges me to treat my summoned


    beasts as tools and progress fast... He has tried to make me learn a cold-hearted nature for a


    long time now..."


    "I-I can''t think of anything else for time being-"


    Before Liam could even finish his words, Idri''s eyes widened in surprise, and a look of


    realization appeared on his face.


    "Ah, I see it now! So he''s actually trying to use ''that'' kind of forbidden magic! No wonder he


    appeared here in the dragon valley!"


    Just from a few clues from Liam, Idri understood everything easily.


    Although the group was still confused and didn''t know what Idri could have found out from those few words, they didn''t ask him about it as that might make him angrier. "Sin, get them all ready and bring them to the garden; I will ask Fenix to escort you all..."


    "If what I am thinking is true, then I should bring you all with me too..."


    ...


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Question of the day.


    Don''t you think Liam is getting wrongly used here?


    (Tell me your opinions in thements)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones!!