Chapter 14

Luna smiled and replied:

‘So that’s the reason for your provocative behaviour! Don’t put the blame on me. He’s your responsibility not mine! And if you’re too weak to beat him, then next time don’t come with us! You have to take him back yourself and you know it just too well! So, if you have some honour in you stop behaving like a child!’ Drin: Oh, it’s getting interesting!

It was rare to see Luna raging like that. Luna was a woman with honour and pride. She always did the right thing and was nice to anyone, sometimes in her own way, but still nice – Drin was possibly an exception. But there was one thing from a few she despised:

‘Don’t accuse me for something that isn’t my fault!’ The man formed a grimace and said:

‘Maybe you’re right, maybe not. But I still think we should settle this score.’ He was ready to strike when suddenly Luna gave a loud cry from her:

‘Argghh!’ This cry was called the werewolf cry. Because Luan had done it in her human form the werewolf cry wasn’t at full power. Still, it was enough to paralyze some people in the room for a brief moment, especially the man standing right before her. Luna took out her hand from the pant. While she did, it transformed into a werewolf’s hand. Still slightly paralyzed, the man anticipated what she was planning. He covered part of his body with ice. Right after that, Luna gave him a punch. To not lose the ground under his feet, the man threw himself forward. He rammed his sword in the ground. That attack pushed him four meters back, making his sword slice through the ground. The man picked himself up again. He pointed at Luna’s hand. It was frozen. Luna: When I touched him!

‘You still got in you!’, Luna complimented while end-doing her transformation with a smirk. The man destroyed his ice creations. Gradually, the temperature started rising again. The man formed a shivering fist, lowered his head.

‘Sorry, Luna and the others who nearly got frozen by me, although some people, no! Almost everyone here deserves to be frozen! I lost my cool’ – Luna stopped him:

‘Hey, what are you getting so emotional? That’s not like you! We are a team and we are going to take your brother back together! Either way, I needed some cold air. My body was boiling.’ While she said this, she side-eyed Drin and Mr. Maida who immediately understood that the cause was their fight. They couldn’t utter anything in this matter.

‘So you just forgive him Luna?’, Drin asked, spreading his arms apart. ‘Just like that?’ Luna shook her head, placing her hands on her hips.

‘Drin, he’s a good friend of mine, so I won’t make a fuss about something like that. Aside from that we are talking about his brother – Family … Luna: It’s been some days since our mission. What did he say back then to you to rankle you up that much? is important!’ She posed her hand on his shoulder. Drin intervened with a question:

‘Ok I understand but what do you mean with taking back your brother?’ Now, it was time for Mr. Maida to step in:

‘OK, you calmed down. Drin I am going to introduce you the people. Everything will be cleared afterwards. Let’s start with this young man. His name is Glace Frost and as you just saw he’s a monster of the ice element. I’m sorry for his behaviour, it wasn’t adequate, but he has his reasons. Glace is a SS-rank monster. And like you heard some minutes ago; his brother is not with us.’

‘Where is he?’, Drin wanted to know. Therefore Mr. Maida turned to Glace who then nodded to him. So, Mr. Maida turned back towards Drin who was curiously waiting for the answer:

‘His big brother is with the organisation JUDGE, the enemy. Last time, my people had a confrontation with them, but didn’t succeed in taking him back. Well, let’s say in defeating him!’ Drin stopped Mr. Maida with a question:

‘Does he really want to come back? I know, I’ve never met him, but is taking someone back really that hard? You said yourself that he’s with the enemy and I doubt that he is held against his will.’ Drin ceased for a moment and took a deep breath. As he did, his face darkened. He focused on Glace insensitively. ‘Will you be able to kill him if the situation asks for it? I don’t know if someone ever posed you that question but it must be done!’ Glace pressed his fists together; he was looking at the floor and his body was quivering.

‘I’ – Luna stopped Glace by putting her hands on his head.

‘Don’t force yourself. If the time comes and you can’t do it, I’ll take on your brother on. Of course I won’t kill him.’ Glace was delighted. It seemed like Drin was about to ask another question when he suddenly saw Luna’s dark expression. Glace: Still, he’s right! Mr. Maida, not really paying attention to the situation, went on:

‘His pale skin is a sign of the clan he belongs to, the Shinshu Clan. That’s why his full name is Glace Frost Ran Shinshu. The Ran in the middle stands for the second.’

‘What is there still to know?’, Drin inquired.

‘Nothing!’, Mr. Maida answered. ‘I’ll tell you some information about my people, but that’s all. We still don’t know you and your intention or if you will even join us. Besides, some information of them is private and I think we should respect them.’ Drin agreed by nodding his head. Drin: I also have private information I don’t want everyone to know. And maybe these people have weird secrets, maybe abnormal sexual secrets… Drin had several abnormal thoughts, thoughts that were so weird and crazy that it would be better not to list them. Mr. Maida realized that Drin was somewhere else with his head, but still continued. Mr. Maida: Surely, he’ll listen again when I went on! Mr. Maida pointed at a dark-skin woman in the crowd. The woman was wearing a black hoodie.

‘This is Aqualisa Merveille. She is a water ghost and has SS-rank too. Her speciality is the control of water. She can generate water using her body or she can just control the water in her environment. With this water, she can attack, defend and even heal the team.’

‘Interesting’, Drin said looking at Aqualisa who didn’t seem like she was going to say something at any moment. Aqualisa was a shy person and she appeared a lot shyer with her small and fragile figure and 1.36m. Because of the too big clothes she always wore, to hide in them if the situation asked for it, Drin wasn’t able to really grasp her appearance.

Through her blue hairs hiding her face, two ultramarine eyes were shining through. They were fixed on Drin. Just as Aqualisa realized that Drin was staring at her, she rushed behind Mr. Maida.

‘She is a little shy’, Mr. Maida tried to make Drin understand as he saw how confused Drin looked. Drin: Shy as fuck. Aren’t you an adult? Or maybe she’s really a child!

The whole time Jasmin had done nothing. Why would she? She was only observing Mr. Maida and every move of him. It was a behaviour she had acquired in the past. Back then, she had told herself several times that this wasn’t stalking. She had done it till she believed her lie at some point. But when she saw how Aqualisa stuck to Mr. Maida, a feeling of envious arose within her. Jasmin: Aqualisa, stop acting so innocent. I know you’re doing this on purpose! Of course, it wasn’t Aqualisa’s intention to anger Jasmin. With the time, Jasmin’s feelings only got worse and hideous emotions were making their way to her heart. She was trying her best to suppress this rising feeling, but it was hard. And demanded a lot from her. Veins were making their way to the surface, slowly. Jasmin: I must stop!

Luna who had also done nothing, but observed the situation noticed Jasmin’s weird behaviour. She followed her eyes and saw that they were fixed at Aqualisa. Luna knew about the feelings of Jasmin for Mr. Maida and had always asked herself when they would start dating. However, Luna wasn’t the only one to realize Jasmin’s feelings, everyone did, only Mr. Maida stayed in the dark. Therefore, the people in SMO had started betting if the two would ever come together. Of course, Luna was for yes. She walked towards Aqualisa and took her in a gentle hug. Aqualisa friendly accepted and let go of Mr. Maida. Jasmin felt better now and so did Mr. Maida too. Due to unknown reasons, at least for him, he had felt awkward while Aqualisa was hiding behind him and this feeling had grown with time.

The rest of the people let out a big sigh. The crowd enjoyed the moment when Jasmin got angry at Mr. Maida for reasons like that and they hated the fact that Luna would always intervene or sometimes another person. The moment Mr. Maida felt better again, he continued the presentation:

‘Ah, I forgot. There is someone missing from our group. Right now, he’s on a mission. I don’t know when he’ll return. Even now, we still don’t know his true identity, nevertheless, he’s someone we trust. He’s been with us for a while now. He goes by the name Dyran, at least that’s the name we decided on. He never told us his true name. He’s a ?-rank.’ Immediately, Drin cut in; his face full of surprise:

‘What is the meaning of this ?-rank? Ok, I don’t really know what these ranks mean. Still, I’m sure that it shows how strong a person is. So, how can somebody have ?-rank?’ Mr. Maida had a big grin on his face:

‘Dyran is an interesting and mysterious man. I could now give you some information on him. However, I think it would be better if you see for yourself.’

‘Ok, but is he strong?’, Drin wanted to know at least.

‘Yes, he’s strong. But how strong he really is, is something I can’t tell you, because I don’t know myself’, Mr. Maida replied amused. Drin glanced to Luna who only shrugged with her shoulders. The rising excitement in him made his body quiver. Drin: Dyran, I can’t wait to meet you.

‘Are you done?’, Luna asked eyeing Drin, ‘Mr. Maida wants to continue.’

‘What will happen if I’m not done?’, Drin inquired with a nasty smile.

‘Stop this bullshit!’, Luna ordered while she rolled her eyes annoyingly. She jerked her head back. Luna: What did I do to merit this?

‘Ok, I’ll continue.’ Mr Maida decided for himself. He pointed at another woman. She was just 1.82 and her body certainly carried some meat. Her fiery long hair and her glowing crimson eyes made her appear dangerous, yet at the same time there was something erotic about her, especially with her scarlet lips, whispering a pleasure not from this world. This colours were amplified due to her dark skin. She wore a red pullover. Her pants and jacked were black and made out of the same material – leather.

‘This lady is called Lorena Ero.’

Suddenly, Drin got thirsty. He took a big breath. His throat was dry and he needed something. Without noticing himself, he stared at Lorena’s boobs. He had problems to control himself. Suddenly, he backed off. He knew this strange feeling. It was familiar.

‘Stop it, don’t you have any shame?’, Luna asked putting her hands on Drin’s shoulder. Surprisingly, her words weren’t directed at Drin, but at Lorena who was smiling while sliding her tongue over her red lips gently. ‘Are you ok?’, Luna inquired.

‘Yes, I’m’, Drin responded, gaining back his senses. ‘Who is this woman?’ Again, Mr. Maida stepped in:

‘This is the last member with a SS-rank. She is a succubus.’ Drin: Succubus? No wonder I had this familiar feeling. But it was a lot stronger! Mr. Maida looked at the rest of the group and let out a sigh nobody was able to hear. Mr. Maida: Still so much persons to introduce. To say the true, I don’t really want. Mr. Maida was trying to come up with a plan to not introduce the rest without making them feel miserable. Jasmin who was observing Mr. Maida knew right away what he was thinking. Her stalking finally paid off. She decided to help the lost Mr. Maida:

‘M, I think we should stop here. I know that you love everybody here and thus wants to introduce them, but I think this would take too much time. I think that the people will understand it.’ And they did understand it. The crowd started cheering loudly:

‘We also love you Mr. Maida, but Jasmin is right. You don’t have to do it for us.’ Everybody fell for Jasmin’s joke, except the SS-rank people who had gathered to watch the scene and Drin. Seems like their ranks weren’t just show! Pleased with Jasmin’s achievement, Mr. Maida stroked Jasmin’s head. It made Jasmin feel intoxicating and great. She was even about to lose her consciousness when Mr. Maida stopped and thus, woke her up from her dream. A little moment later and god knows what would have happened to Jasmin. Exhausted, he wiped the sweat from his forehead, whereas Jasmin was already thinking about her next achievement. Drin had joined the group of SS-rank.

‘She is really a cunning person, this Jasmin.’

‘Yes’, Luna replied, a grin on her bright face. ‘A sweet, cunning person in love.’ Mr. Maida pointed with his finger at the table.

‘Let’s first sit down.’ While the people walked towards the table Drin analysed each person who hadn’t been introduced by Mr. Maida and noticed that in comparison with the others, they didn't appear special in any way, at least the majority. Immediately, Drin grasped the situation and smirked. Drin: I understand know. Most of these people are just no-names. If it would be me, I wouldn't also bother introducing them. The table was big enough that nearly everybody got a place and sure enough, the people who didn’t get a place, were no-names. When everybody had calmed down, Mr. Maida started speaking, especially by looking at Drin:

‘What is this rank or this rank? What is the SMO? What is JUDGE? I know you have many questions. Drin: Did I ever ask that many questions? I'll now tell you, our story. I know that some of you have already heard the story, however, not everyone. So, I would appreciate it if you could all stay quiet and listen.’ Mr. Maida was about to start when Drin had to intervene:

‘Excuse me, it seems like this story will be a long one. Do you happen to have something to eat?’ Luna was the first to react:

‘If you behave till the end of the story, I'll buy you something later. It’s a promise.’ Luna was the kind of person who would always do what she promised. It didn’t matter what or how, she would keep her promise. This promise was enough to rend Drin silent and so Mr. Maida went on:

‘In order to understand everything I’ll have to start from the beginning. With beginning, I don’t mean how we were created or the difference between the races. Normally, everyone should know it.’ Drin: Then I belong to the group of people who don’t know it!