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Chapter 3 - Her secrets

As Diana spoke, Vritra's mind wandered to a distant memory.

He remembered his thirteenth birthday, when a friend of his had introduced him to the underground fighting arenas.

Vritra had been utterly bored and lonely back then, even though Vanessa cared and loved him more than anything in the world, but she had to spend a lot of time outside because of work.

But once joining the arena, he began to enjoy the dangerous environment; fighting almost every single day of the week, there was a lot of money, but it held little value to Vritra, given how wealthy his small family already was.

The school, those activities and even friends all began to seem childish, so he paid little to no attention to school.

Vritra had become one of the best fighters in the arena in just a few years, it was at that time that he noticed the difference in his body; as if his body had a mind of its own, it would become numb to pain at just the right time letting him fight without any restrictions.

And now he possessed the pain resistance at level four, which further made his beliefs firm; his strength, stamina and speed had always been much higher than others, but he didn't know why he was so different from others.

By the age of eighteen, he had fought countless dangerous fights even getting seriously injured a few times but always coming out victorious.

Yet he had kept this part of his life a secret from everyone else, Vritra was sure his mother might already be aware of all this considering her connections and ability but for some reason she didn't stop him, despite the worry that filled her eyes whenever she saw even the tiniest of bruise on his body.

So despite obtaining such a useless skill he wasn't affected too much, although unsure of what the future held in store for him he was sure that it will be very thrilling even if it brings an end to his life.

Vanessa looked at her son and couldn't help but worry, she knew he is very strong willed but this new world seemed far too dangerous just from what they had heard, but she was determined to protect him no matter how dangerous the situation becomes.

Diana finished her explanation and led the group out of the temple. Vritra took in the sights around him with keen interest - the gleaming white spires of the castle, the lush green grass that surrounded it, and the bustling city streets filled with people going about their daily lives in the distance.

Seeing this all finally made them feel that they have truly arrived in a completely different place, the dressing, the houses, everything appeared completely different from Earth.

Soon they arrived at the royal palace, a magnificent structure with golden domes and intricate carvings, there were hundreds of guards stationed at different positions all of whom bowed their heads in front of goddess Diana, as she led the group into the large hall of the castle.

As the group of teenagers and two women entered such a castle for the first time, they couldn't help but marvel at the lavish structure and decorations, everything seemed to be made of gold and silver with countless jewels adoring them.

At the front sat a man wearing majestic golden armor with long black beard and a beautiful crown on his head, it was the king, he seemed to be in his forties but in this world, age was truly a number as strong people could go on for hundreds and even thousands of years.

He had a robust body and possessed a royal aura, but his smile brought a calming feeling around him.

On either side of the king stood four guards with deadly presence in silver armours, holding spears.

There were more than twenty seats present on both side of the throne in the hall where ministers, generals and other people at high positions sat, all of them stood as one of the guards announced the arrival of the goddess.

"Welcome my dear guests to this humble kingdom called Dunshire, I know this is all too sudden and far too dangerous and we've just placed you all in danger; but we will help you all in any way we can and provide you with all the resources we possess so you have nothing to fear."

King Aldric spoke after bowing his head slightly towards the Goddess, his tone was quite amicable.

"Our young heroes have obtained marvellous abilities that will greatly help us in the fight against the demons, prepare all the basic necessities for them; they are my responsibility so don't upset them in any way." Diana spoke, her tone calm.

"Of course goddess, I will do my very best in aiding them. You don't have to worry about a thing, whether it be living spaces, teachers or guards to protect them everything will be handled personally by me." The king responded with a look of assurance.

Then King Aldric greeted the group warmly, his friendly demeanour putting them at ease. He spoke of the threats that plagued his kingdom and thanked them, then introduced a few figures of importance and continued to speak about different things for some time.

After listening for a while Vritra paid little attention to the king, instead he observed his status window and with just a thought he was able to conceal it from the gazes of all the others; this ability of his that seemed utterly useless at first sight might not be as simple if it was ranked so highly.

'Pain resistance, no one else possessed any such skills; at least not at such a high level. Even the ones who had obtained different bloodline and physique like Fiona, who obtained the phoenix's abilities only possessed fire resistance at level 1.

How strange, seems like I will have to check it all out later on.' Vritra pondered in his mind, his expressions as always were veiled by the curtain of his black hair falling over his face up to his nose.

Soon the king led the group towards a large dining area where a lot of different types of meals were prepared for them all, as they ate the goddess discussed the abilities of all the people with the king, she informed him about the ones he should cherish and the ones that were useless.

After the sumptuous meal in the palace dining area, all of them gathered in the garden right outside the palace; the king, goddess and a few guards stood in front of them.

Clearing her throat, Diana looked over the group and spoke in a melodic voice that made the hearts of many boys race.

"All of you must be tired after such big events both mentally and physically, we have already prepared rooms for you all; you can tell me or the king directly if there is anything that you need, if none of you have anything further to say then you can rest for today." After speaking Diana looked over them waiting for anyone to speak.

"Uh… Actually my bones are in pain and my old body would shiver with just the slightest activity and even the ability I received is quite useless so is there a chance that I can stay back and just enjo-" Ms. Mia held her knee as she spoke with a pained expression.

Diana glanced at her for a moment before turning her gaze away.

"Hmm since none of you have anything to say, then you can rest or look around the palace; but be careful not to use your abilities carelessly, a guard or two will always be protecting you, so you don't have to worry about your safety at all." Diana told them about a few more things and finally dismissed them all.

The guards brought the group to their new rooms inside the palace, all the rooms were present in close corridors and just as the king and the goddess had promised the room were quite luxurious.

All of them selected their rooms, Vritra and Vanessa chose rooms next to each other though he was sure his mother would spend most of her time in his room she was obsessed and overprotective of him.

Jack wanted to get the room next to Fiona hoping to somehow get her attention, he was quite happy to have received such great abilities maybe he would finally be able to impress her.

But Fiona was quite the opposite of the calm exterior she presented to everyone, she in fact was into bad boys; she had never been interested in Jack instead she had recently fallen for the famous bully and gangster of her school, Max.

Max and Fiona were aware of each other's feelings and towards her, Max always acted like the perfect gentleman so their love blossomed in secret, yet their relationship had barely developed.

Fiona hid one more secret from everyone, even Max—behind her composed facade, she was utterly consumed by lust.

Her thoughts were filled with unrestrained desires and urges, her body aching for pleasures she dared not speak of. No matter how hard she tried to suppress it, the hunger only grew stronger but she could never let anyone know of this.

Everyone began to enter their rooms since they were really exhausted by this sudden journey, few students formed groups to chatter while some were too frightened by it all.

Max and Fiona briefly glanced at each other, a silent spark between their gazes as they entered their rooms, although Max wanted to deepen his relationship with her but since he truly loved her and planned to make her his wife so he was trying his best to go at a speed he believed suited her, not knowing of her true nature.

"My little darling, are you sure you are alright? Maybe I should stay with you?" Vanessa spoke, a rare expression of worry on her face, her overprotective nature surfacing.

"Don't worry mom, it is no big deal. It isn't as bad as it looks… probably, anyway you should rest too for now- oh right, what kind of ability did you receive?" Vritra asked curiously.

"Uh… That- Cough Well, this ability helps me cook delicious dishes, anyway you should rest now; call me if you need anything." After speaking and lovingly ruffling his hair she walked into her room.

'Looks like she is hiding something, I wonder what her ability really is. Hmm I am sure she will tell me later on her own, I hope it isn't anything troublesome.' Vritra thought as he walked into his own room.

The interior was more lavish than he expected, he was used to living in a luxurious house but the feel here was completely different; it gave off an antique feeling, everything was designed so differently.

There was a bed, a couple of shelves some food, clothes and many other necessities; it seemed they all were treated nicely in there at least.

Without looking around much he just fell back onto the bed, despite appearing calm all this while the whole situation was a bit too sudden for him too, especially the thing about his ability.

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