John didn''t know what to think, at school they could use the spells and chants just fine, well Serena could, Ariel took a while since she was new to chanting, but John didn''t pay attention to their progress and now he regretted it.


    "King ss... but if this spell is king-ss, wouldn''t that mean the one you used against the mermaids, emperor ss?" Ariel asked


    "True, I never saw you use a spell like that before." Serena added


    "Emperor? Spell?"


    "Eh? It wasn''t?"


    [Zestari you used an emperor ss spell?]


    [No, an emperor ss spell is on apletely different league from king-ss. If I had used one, the whole beach could have been wiped outif it was caught in the radius, even if I unleashed it on the off-shore. I used a king-ss, although it''s stronger than most.]


    [So you can use one!?]


    […]


    John then a sting on his head, followed up by a throbbing sensation, one after another, memories of what happened that day started to flow by his head.


    As the memories shed by, John ced his hand on his forehead in an attempt to weaken or stop the pain, but it was no use


    "Hey? Is something wrong?" Ariel asked as she ced her hand on his forehead


    "..."


    "John?" Serena called out to him as there was no reply


    The two were now visibly worried, but john suddenly formed a smile as he said


    "Sorry, my head suddenly started to hurt. It''s fine now."


    "You don''t seem to have a fever..."


    "Mhm, it was nothing."


    "You better not be trying to act tough, if it still hurts, just be open about it and we''ll take a break." Said Serena


    She said it rather coldly, but even John could tell that she was also worried. Before he even realised it, the pain had suddenly stopped.


    "Yeah, don''t worry, I''m better for real this time, let''s go."


    ***


    "Then... Let''s all head to the next floor." John with a smile


    John had stored the magic stone inside of his special made dimensional ring. It''s capacity was 10 fold of what he previously used and it was also very expensive


    [It was worth it...]


    "Huh? What''re you talking about? Didn''t you say that we were going to go by an order?" Thedy asked


    "Yeah, what are you talking about?" Serena asked as she looked at him


    "That wouldn''t be fair. There''s surely going to be another puzzle on the 2nd floor, whoever solves it first should have the right to go first. I only solved the puzzle for the 1st floor, so it wouldn''t make sense to hog everything to myself" Said John


    Everyone was confused by John''s sudden changed and for a moment, they were quiet, and then started muttering amongst themselves thinking that I may be nning something evil.


    Azure was the first one to walk up to John and the first thing he asked was


    "Are you aiming to conquer thest floor too?"


    [Too? So he''s also going for it?]


    "Of course, if you''re also aiming to it, you might want to catch up soon."


    "I see... Well thanks for being considerate, and solving the puzzle may be faster with everyone there" Azure said with a smile


    There was something else behind Azure''s Smile, john didn''t know why, but there was something else behind his innocent look and smile. Almost like he was hiding his true power.


    [Zestari, can you feel anything off about him?]


    [You''ve been relying on me too much recently, figure it out yourself]


    [Wha- t out rejection...]


    "That''s right." John replied with a smile


    "Eh? He wasn''t nning on backstabbing us?"


    "He has no reason to, are you guys really afraid of a kid?" Thedy asked


    "..."


    "Then, John right? We''re grateful that you''re giving us a chance and once again I''d like to apologise for the way my a member of my party had treated you." She said


    "Ah, that''s right. I nearly forgot about him... Ah, I''ll be right back, also, no need to thank me, I just want everyone to have a fair experience. I may have been a little hasty and childish with my decision of the order, earlier so I apologise." Said John as he also bowed his head


    Everyone was starting to see John in a new light because of this, but they couldn''t get the fact that he was a kid in their heads.


    "You can be a surprisingly good, kid." Said thedy with a smile


    "I''m just not a fan of fighting."


    The moment john said that, he could feel the two girls beside him giving him the stare.


    "Haha, that''s surprising"


    [You should really go before the guy get''s a frostbite.]


    [Hasn''t he already gotten one?]


    [He would have if a soft someone didn''t make the ice less colder than normal.]


    [So you noticed... Possession]


    Darkness clouded John''s eyes and he muttered a few words which couldn''t be heard, before he suddenly vanished, leaving behind a trail of darkness.


    Ayda who saw this muttered "Hm... There really is more to him than meets the eye." While the purple haired girl and brown-haired boy in Azure''s party remained quiet.


    Azure who saw this had a smile formed as if he was enjoying his time so far, and Ayda who saw this looked annoyed.


    "Why do you look so happy..." She whispered to herself


    Those in the cloaked party showed no reaction, well even if they did, they were hiding their faces, so it wouldn''t be possible to see.


    While both those in thedy''s party remained speechless.


    Serena and Ariel felt like they could really rte with their reaction, John was the type of guy to surprise them all the time after all.


    After a short while, john came back with the guy next to him, he looked terrified.


    [I haven''t done anything to him... yet.]


    "Then, shall we go?" John asked


    John seemed to be in a surprisingly good mood which was unexpected as the guy next to him was on the verge of tears.