Rei looked at the Waterfall of Two Paths and then landed on the head of the mountain. He released Ava and decided to wait there. "Why aren't we going to the foot of the waterfall to wait?" Ava asked.
"Because as you said, many rituals take place here," Rei explained. "That means the hooded people might come to the foot of the mountain, and if we're there, they may find us." Ava understood and nodded. "Don't worry, we just have to wait here for four hours before we can go."
Rei looked down at the foot of the waterfall and saw many black-hooded people arriving. They began to create a magic formation to form a barrier. Soon, many monsters and white-hooded people riding them also came towards the waterfall. "Looks like a grand fight is taking place," Rei observed.
As the monsters arrived, the black-hooded people activated their barrier and sat inside it, beginning a ritual. Some of them chanted sutras, causing Rei, Ava, and Tenko's heads to hurt, and they began beating drums. The monsters surrounded them, attacking and scratching at the barrier. The white-hooded men began their own chanting, but suddenly, their clothes started to turn black, and they soon turned into a pool of black liquid. The same began happening to the monsters.
"Quickly, this is no place to stay!" Rei said. He grabbed Ava and Tenko and started jumping with a wind bomb, looking back. Everything behind them was turning into a pool of black liquid, and the statue of the good king was getting corrupted. The black-hooded men continued chanting, and blood started to seep from their skin, their eyes fell out, and their fingers tore and dropped to the ground. Rei put as much distance as he could between them and the black-hooded men as everything behind them became a black liquid. Then, he looked back and saw that the chanting had stopped. Rei looked around and noticed that the surroundings were no longer turning into black liquid. He jumped with a wind bomb and looked at the place where the black-hooded figures had been. They had turned into a pool of blood. He then looked at the statue at the Waterfall of Two Paths and saw that the good side was repairing itself. In just a few minutes, it returned to its original state.
"What was this?" Rei wondered. "It looks like both of them killed each other. Good." He jumped with another wind bomb to a safe area, where he put down Ava and Tenko. They had fallen unconscious during the chanting. Rei wondered why he had been able to stay conscious. He didn't want to admit it, but he thought it might be because of the lingering darkness in his heart that had made him unaffected. Rei waited for four hours, hoping his family was not in the vicinity of this deterioration. After four hours, he sighed. "It was a waste of time after all."
Tenko and Ava had already woken up. Tenko barked, reassuring him. "Thanks, buddy," Rei said. Tenko jumped on his shoulder, turning small.
"I never thought something so sinister was in the Red Mountains," Ava said. "It's definitely best to declare it a forbidden zone." Rei had heard about forbidden zones; they contained dangers so great that even mage rulers would have to think twice before entering. "Yeah, I guess so. Well, let's go." Rei began walking down, feeling a mix of disappointment and sadness.
As they reached the foot of the mountain, they went their separate ways. Rei and Tenko got into the Midgard. "Tenko, we are going to leave in one or two months," Rei said. "There is no need to stay here if we have no more needs." Tenko barked in agreement. "Tenko, do you know what the black and white-hooded men were doing? Despite their wicked deeds, I'm a little interested in their powers." Tenko shook his head. Rei thought they were like shamans from his past life who used rituals to summon or make contracts with a devil to do their bidding. Rei wondered how he could learn it, but then he shook the thought away. "Well, let's make some food." Tenko barked.
On the other side of town, Ava was on her way home when she saw a girl yelling. The girl was Daina. "What do you mean you don't have any room in the inn?" Daina shouted.
"Sorry, but all the rooms are occupied," the innkeeper said.
"Then make a room!" Daina demanded. "We've come so far, and this is the hospitality you give us?"
"Why are you yelling?" Ava intervened. "He said he doesn't have any space in his inn."
"Hmph, just a kid," Daina retorted. "Whatever I do is none of your business. Who exactly are you to tell me what to do anyway?"
"My name is Ava, and I won't just stand here and let you say our village doesn't have hospitality," Ava replied.
"Me and my master have come from a long way, and I went to three different inns, and this is the last one, and they are refusing me too. Does your village give hospitality like this?" Daina's voice was rising.
"The people from the next town came for an event, so of course, we have full inns. What will we do?" Ava said.
"Obviously, move someone and give us their place," Daina insisted.
"You are too much. Just stop it and go camp outside," Ava said.
Daina became angry. She had been traveling all day and then looking for inns for three hours, which had left her frustrated. She took out her sword. "If I defeat you, you will have to give us space in the inn!"
The innkeeper tried to de-escalate the situation, but Ava stopped him. "Don't worry about it," she told him. She then turned to Daina. "Okay, however, if I win, you have to let go of this matter."
Daina smirked. "Fine." Daina quickly moved and was about to slash, but Ava created an ice spike that was going to pierce her, forcing Daina to retreat. Ava was used to fighting Tenko, a Navarion who was a size-shifter and much faster than her. After fighting Tenko, she had gained a lot of experience. Ava chuckled. "Just this much? My master is twice as fast as you." Daina was surprised that a village girl could use chantless magic and fight her so easily, despite all her training and fighting magical beasts. "Don't be so cocky," Daina said. "That was just a warm-up."
Daina fought with her full power. Her speed increased, as did her sword techniques. She used North Sword Style, Wind Form Verse 1: Gentle Breeze passing through like a sword. She moved around Ava randomly at high speed, giving her no chance to locate her. Ava sighed. "Don't you understand?" Daina attacked from behind at full speed while Ava was not looking, but Ava casually turned around, her hand already extended. Daina was surprised. "You are too weak," Ava said as flames came from her hand and engulfed Daina. Daina stumbled back, her body covered in burns. Then, an ice spike appeared, stopping just before it pierced her throat. "I win. Now keep your promise."
Daina was broken. Her whole life, her goal was to win, and she had trained her entire childhood for it. Yet, a village girl who was younger than her had beaten her with such ease. Her confidence in herself and in her life was shattered. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she ran away. Ava wondered, "What happened? Why was she crying?"
Sigil, eating at a restaurant, suddenly saw Daina. She had burns all over her body, her eyes were full of tears, and she asked, "Master, am I useless?" As Daina cried, Sigil was surprised. His eyes widened, and he wondered what had happened to push her to this point. Athena, looking at the scene from her realm, said, "Finally, it's here. What will happen to you now, Rei?"