Trapped

It had been many days since their last adventure, and now, they often went their separate ways. Michael had decided he could never truly learn and grow if he continued to rely on Leon's protection.

Ring... Ring...

Leon was jolted awake by the persistent ringing of his Holowatch. Groggily, he answered the call.

"Hello, Mom. What's up?" Leon greeted as his mother's voice came through.

"Nothing much, sweetie. Just checking in on you," she replied warmly.

"I'm doing fine, Mom. How about you and the baby?" Leon asked, a smile tugging at his lips as he remembered her pregnancy.

"I'm doing well. In a few months, you'll need to be ready to welcome a little sibling," she said with a gentle laugh.

"I'm always ready, Mom," Leon chuckled in return.

"By the way, where's Michael? I can't seem to reach him," she asked, her voice tinged with concern.

"He's out adventuring, probably somewhere out of network range," Leon replied reassuringly.

"okay, why don't you check it and tell me?" She said.

"okay Mum, don't worry too much, its not good for you and little one" Leon said as he cut the call.

Leon stretched as he freshened up, then checked his Holowatch for any news about Michael. After several attempts to reach him failed, he frowned slightly.

"Hmm, an unstable Secret Realm," Leon mumbled to himself, piecing things together. He realized that Michael must have ended up inside the realm. After all, Michael had mentioned heading to Green Hills today, and that was exactly where the unstable space realm gateway had been fluctuating recently.

After quickly getting ready, Leon stepped out and hopped onto his hover bike, racing toward Green Hills. The landscape blurred as he sped along, his focus entirely on reaching the fluctuating portal ahead.

Arriving at the hills, he saw a swirling portal surrounded by barricades and a group of people watching from the sidelines. Curious, Leon approached one of them.

"What's happening here?" Leon asked a man standing nearby.

The man glanced at Leon and replied, "Organizations are sending some Super Elites inside to rescue those who got lost in there."

Leon nodded, taking in the situation. As he moved toward the portal, he overheard a conversation between two guards.

"Shouldn't we stop him?" one of them asked.

"No, let that fool go in. If he dies, he dies. But if he makes it back alive, we'll have one more portion when he returns with the rescue team," the other replied dismissively.

Leon shook his head at their callousness but continued forward, entering the portal.

He suddenly found himself in a vast desert, the scorching sun beating down on him. Scanning the area, he saw no sign of life. Focusing his energy, he activated his Blood Resonance Skill, a technique that allowed him to sense the direction of someone whose blood he was familiar with. Since Michael was his brother, the connection was even stronger.

A thin red light appeared before Leon, pointing him in a specific direction. He followed the light, watching as it suddenly angled downward and disappeared into the sand.

"Is he underground?" Leon murmured to himself, knowing that Blood Resonance only worked if the person was alive.

Just as he prepared to drill into the sand, a hole suddenly opened in the ground. From it emerged a Diamond Panda, its shimmering fur reflecting the sunlight. The creature looked at Leon warily, growling softly.

"Easy, little guy, I mean no harm," Leon said calmly, raising his hands and stepping aside. He waited patiently, giving the panda space to do whatever it intended.

Underground, Rhea and the others were waiting in their camp, having just finished digging the tunnel. Deedee, the Diamond Panda, had communicated telepathically to Rhea, warning them of someone approaching.

"Let's get out of here! And be ready; there's someone just outside," Rhea instructed.

As the group emerged from the tunnel, they saw a handsome figure standing nearby. Michael's eyes lit up with recognition. "Brother!" he called out, rushing toward Leon.

Leon greeted him with a playful smack on the head, causing the others to flinch and raise their weapons in alarm.

"You made Mom worry," Leon said, looking at Michael as he rubbed his head.

"I'm sorry. I accidentally fell inside," Michael replied, gesturing to Rhea. "You know her; she lives in the same apartment as us."

Leon nodded in acknowledgment. Michael then introduced Rhea and the others—Jill and William—who had also been trapped. The tension eased as they recognized that Leon was indeed Michael's brother, and the weapons were lowered.

"Well, let's get out of here. I'm here to take you all back," Leon said, turning to Michael and then addressing the others. "Do you guys want to tag along?"

Rhea nodded. She was aware of Leon's capabilities and assured Jill and William, "Come with us. Leon is pretty powerful."

They agreed and joined Leon. He muttered, "Blood World," creating a protective dome around them. "Come inside," he instructed.

Just then, Michael added, "Wait, there were more beneath the sand."

Leon nodded and placed his hand on the ground, using his Blood Sense. After a moment, he stood up as the sand began to shift. Bodies surfaced, and Leon confirmed, "They're all dead."

The group nodded solemnly. Leon then incinerated the bodies and collected their equipment and storage pouches, noting the details Michael had provided.

As they entered the dome, Leon activated its transparency, allowing them to see the desert around them as they began to fly. The dome smoothly glided through the sand, its walls clear and unobstructed.

Soon, they encountered two massive sandworms, each at the peak of the Corporal Stage. Jill, noticing the danger, exclaimed, "Hey! They'll notice us!"

Leon, however, remained calm. "No one can see us," he assured her. To prove his point, he maneuvered the dome around the sandworms and even launched a few minor attacks. The sandworms thrashed and roared in confusion, unable to detect or locate the source of the disturbances. The Blood World's concealment prevented them from sensing any intrusions.

Jill and the others watched in amazement as Leon skillfully navigated past the sandworms, undetected and unharmed.

"you have great ability, which organization are you from?" William asked looking at Leon.

"none" Leon simply replied as he kept moving forwards.

His reply caused both of them to exclaim but thinking he just don't want to tell them they kept their thoughts to themselves.

he then looked back and shaped the Blood Dome, as he made chairs, "you can sit, if you are all tired" he said and other taking his offer begin to sit on the chairs.

''Finally!" Jill said as she saw the outline of the scind forest from a tall sand dune, after more than 5 hours of travel.

"there are lot of people gathered there" Leon said as he saw the amount of people there.

"hmm, Organizations have set a camp there" Jill said and then Leon stopped the Blood Dome directly at the entrance, as the Dome opened the guards there exclaimed, seeing someone coming out of thin air, but then relaxed thinking its someone's ability.

Thousands of tents in neat information be seen and around the camp is people parroting heavily.

It is even rough fence and sentry lower of wood could be seen around the camp.

Whoever is in charge had done a good job in maintaining a camp, one barely spot any mistake in the arrangement.

There is a large gate at the entrance of the tower and around it two big sentry tower.

As they enter the gate of the camp, no one stopped them but after walking a few steps inside they notice, there are few youths sitting on the roughly made wooden desk and asking information to those who are coming in from the camp gate.

They also walk in front of the empty desk which is administered by the girl as same as rhea age and also in Corporal grade.

"Are you two from Thundergods Arena?" she asked smilingly to Jill and William, completely ignoring Leon, Michael and Rhea.

''Yes, we are." Jill and Willian answered in unison, "Please state your names please!" she said in a respectful tone.

''William Harris and Jill Harris," Willian replied, hearing their names the girl look at their holowatch for while.

''Great! Your names are here." She said and shouted ''Tim!" loudly, soon a boy of my age come running over.

"Take them to Thundergods Arena's camp," she said to the boy.

"Please,'' said the boy motioning his hands.

"our friends?" Jill said motioning towards us, ''I am sorry, they can't come with you, your area restricted to organizations member only,"

"if they are a member or any organization or government they can go with you and if they are not, they have to put their camp in common area, these are the rules of the camp," she said to jill with the smile.

"its okay" Leon said and then Jill and William giving apologetic smiles left.

''Your name and name of the affiliate organization if you are a member." She said in a stern voice, her voice is completely different from that of before sugary voice with a sweet smile.