Chapter 24: Grounded

I freed all of the people from the cage. I was getting thanked left and right.

-There should be a carriage full of supplies, we need enough food to last till the rescue party arrive-

-You're planning on calling one? How?- Dabria asked

-I have to call my parents-

-We are in so much trouble- Siege said

-We can make up for it by passing the test- Ace comforted

I found the supply cart filled with rations, I shared it to the people and wen to interrogate our prisoners.

"Well what's your group called?"

They didn't answer.

"Why did you kidnap these people? Who were you going to sell them to?"

They replied with silence

"Answer me if you don't want to be tortured. Can you tell me what this crest is for?" I showed the token I took earlier

"It's the Red Swords" one of the people I freed answered

"You know what this is?"

"Yes, it's an infamous group that done all sort of atrocities, the sword supposedly represents power and red is representing the blood that they are willing to shed for their goal"

"What's their goal?"

"I have no idea"

"Thank you"

"It's the least I can do" he then went back to his place

"Well we only need one alive to give to the knights now that we got our answer. Anyone who wants revenge, you can take those 2, they won't be able to fight back in their current condition" I pointed to the guys beside the boss

A few got up and took my offer.

"Don't take care of them here, take them a bit further away, it'll take at least till tomorrow for the rescue squad to arrive, their corpse will smell" I instructed

"Excuse me sir" A person asked me

"Yes?"

"Whose territory of Artia is the rescue squad from?"

"Baron Golds, why?"

"Because we were all about to be sold into slavery in Artia since slavery is legal in a few territories, if it's Baron Golds we don't have to worry, sorry for asking" The person bowed and headed back

-I see, I forgot that slavery is still a thing here-

-Well we can leave that problem to Albert, he'll eventually will convince the royals to solve it, since he is a noble, he'll be able to convince them better than we can- Ace said

-Well that's assuming if he is like those cliché protagonists- Dabria reminded

-He is similar to one- Siege said

-Well I'll solve the problem if he doesn't, we don't want anyone else experience what Siege did- I said

-Thank you- Siege said

-Well I'm about to face a whole lot of lecturing from my parents now-

I took out my communication amulet and called my parents, man lucky I don't have one of those video call ones.

"Hey Perseus! Why are you calling us so early today?" Dad asked

"You're not in trouble, are you?" Mom said

I took a deep breath and told them what happen, but I left out a couple details about our earlier ambush just to make sure they don't worry too much.

I heard my mother took deep breaths, I didn't need to be there to know that she is probably facepalming and stressing right now.

"We really can't leave you alone for a second" Olivia said from the back

"Yeah and it's only day 2" John said

-Well seems like our field trip is ending earlier than expected-

-Don't worry, I will show my cutest face and get Eliza to help you, she is weak against it- Ace said

-Well I usually don't get blamed so I'll be fine- Siege said

-I don't have to worry either- Dabria said

-Geez guys, thanks for the comfort-

"We'll discuss this later, give me your location, I'll get a big rescue party, me and your dad will also go with them" Mom said and I obliged

They came early, and we arrived in Artia and to our inn by late night, Luke and his family was there too.

"Seems like you already broke your promise" Eliza said while playing with Ace

Siege was sleeping in the corner

"Well to be fair to him, he did save a lot of people, he think of others instead of himself, that's the quality of a hero" Luke said

"He could've just called us and give us his location, we can get the knights to solve it instead of doing it himself" Mom argued

"Well that's called being a parent, we always have to worry about our child, I now have to make sure my twins don't idolize Perseus too much" John said

"Well he did save a lot of people so we can't punish him too hard" Dad said

"Fine, but you young man" mom pointed at me " You are grounded"

"What?" I said in shock

"You can practice your magic in your room till the 1st day of the exam, that's when we let you back out"

-That's 12 days!-

-Well you kinda deserve it- Dabria said

-We'll have 4 days outside till our test-

"Can I at least keep my communication amulet?"

"Yes, if that helps you"

I slept comfortably that night since I was a bit tired.

The next day, I got a call from Albert.

"I heard what you did yesterday, you're a hero"

"Did you do the bonding ritual with your goddess yet?" I asked

"Yeah, now one of my eyes is light blue instead of green, I heard from Helena that she heard from your goddess that both your eyes changed"

"Yeah, it's a bit annoying, my younger cousins seem to love it though"

"Well have you prepared for your exams?"

"I have, what about you?"

"Of course, I got this power from Helena, I can make super strong light construct and I can do light magic better, not only that I require less mana usage for light magic than any other attribute, what powers did you get?"

"Don't know yet, I'll figure it out soon enough"

"Well father is calling for me, I'm off now, bye"

"Bye"

The only training I did during the 12 days were similar to the one I did when I was younger, I just made multiple mana balls and kept them going for as long as I can to simulate using simultaneous magic and only deactivating them when someone comes in.

Apart from uncle John who brings the food in, only my cousins Oliver and Emily, and Eliza come to visit. Eliza mostly wanted to play with Ace, we do have some small talk, as for Oliver and Emily...well...

"Were they strong?"

"What spell did you use?"

"How long did it take you to beat them?"

Yep, but imagine the same conversation going for a few hours until Olivia came to take them back, and only for them to come back the next day asking the same thing.

After those 12 days, I got out and headed to the Coliseum, Albert seems to be waiting for me. And the cliché talk is happening all around the area

"The baron's son, I heard he's the best candidate for today"

"I heard some contestants are heading to other venues, with him there, they won't be able to stand out as much"

"They say he might even rank first in the kingdom's ranking, which includes all the other 4 Artian venues"

-So cliché-

-I understand what you mean when I got your memories- Dabria agreed

-Well we're here to beat up people, c'mon let's go- Ace said

-Well Perseus is, we're observers today- Siege said

"Hey Perseus, glad to see you on the big day" Albert greeted

-We need him to get a number before us, he'll make an awe inspiring performance, and then we'll use that hype to do an impossible event where we beat the representative up-

-I like your plan, cunning and you get to beat someone up- Ace agreed enthusiastically

"You too"

"Well I know you have purple eyes now but not having able to meet in person in a while, it looks great" he complimented

"Yours too, it's unique"

"There you 2 are" The baron said after spotting us "Thanks to you we're getting richer than ever hohoho"

"Well you helped out too sir"

"You're too kind, now head in and get your number, I'm sure you 2 will do great during your test in a few days"

"Thank you father" Albert replied

"Thank you sir"

We then headed inside to get our number

"You're bonds have been registered and here's your token, show this on your exam date which is in 4 days, you will be contestant number 420"

-Nice- Me and Ace said in unison

-I'm not going to join in- Siege said

-Me neither- Dabria agreed