Leo was trying to think hard about the best course of action for the future, not just for him, but for Erin and more for the people in the Shelter. He didn’t want to cause them any trouble or alarm. They deserved a peaceful life, but at the same time, he needed to do something.
“Maybe it’s best if we both leave this place,” Leo said. “After what happened, they will be after me as well. I don’t want to put the lives of people living here in danger.”
“But where would we go? They have people at every Shelter, and I can’t go back to the military base. Also, what if they send someone here again and go after Taz?” Erin asked, hoping he would have an answer.
“If my hunch is right, I know someone at Pure very well. I’ll have Taz crush the Dojo and put someone else in charge. He’s not interested in ther people here; he’s interested in me.”
At this point, Erin was a little lost; she had no clue what Leo was talking about, but just knew right now he was her only hope.
“As for your second problem, follow me,” Leo said.
Before leaving the Dojo, Leo went to access something in the room’s corner. After inputting a code, a small door opened, and he grabbed an object from it. Then using another device, a digital screen appeared with a sound wave. As Leo spoke, the sound wave would move. After listening to what Leo was saying, she realized it was a digital message left for Taz.
“Our time together has been great, but I’m afraid it has come to an end, for the goal and person I have been looking for is insight. I’m sorry for what happened to you today. I believe I am to blame for this. With this, I will give you your final and last task. Two Gold Credit cards have been left behind.”
“I would like you to select a person who you think will do well in looking after the city, someone you trust. I believe you are better than anyone to decide this. Pass the card onto him; when I can, I will apply funds and continue to support this Shelter. As for the second gold card, that is for yours to use.
“There should be enough money for you to last a lifetime, as long as you don’t go and squander it. There is no need for you to risk your life to put food on the table. Enjoy it. When I leave, have the Dojo, and all the equipment in it, destroyed. And stay as far away from me as possible and cut the connection with people you know here as well.”
The two of them left the Dojo and went outside to another building located in the same large square that Leo owned. It wasn’t as big as the main hall they had just left but was the second biggest in the whole square area.
Before entering the room, in his hand, Leo grabbed Erin’s and placed the object that he had taken out of the safe.
“I believe this belongs to you?” Leo said.
“My watch! This means I can finally get in contact with the others.” She said with joy on her face, but now was not the right time to do so.
The two of them entered the room, and it wasn’t too big in size, it was a bit cramped, but what did surprise her, it was almost a replica of the portal room that the military base had. There were several different portals that led to other places.
“I bought most of these on the black market, but every portal here should belong to a Green planet or an Orange portal planet. I would often use these before joining the military to go out on solo hunts. Then with the beasts’ crystals, I would sell them to fund the Shelter.”
At first, Erin thought that maybe one of these portals would be her way out of here, but after hearing Leo, specifically say that they were only Orange portal and Green portals, she got disheartened once again. As long as there was a military presence on one of these planets, there would be a member of Pure hidden somewhere around.
“This is only a temporary measure for now while we get our bearings. I believe what Quinn has given me is a gift.” Leo said, clenching his fist. “I have never felt stronger than before, but I still need time to train myself and my skills. If you wish, I will train you too. If you want to see your friends again, I suggest you take me up on my offer. Once the two of us are strong enough, we will come back, and Pure will fear us.”
Going to one of the teleporters, Leo pulled it from the side and into the centre of the room. Then once activated, the small waves in the air could be seen. However, the colour that Erin was expecting didn’t appear. For it was a portal in red colour.
“What, how did you get this!” Erin said. “Isn’t it dangerous? Wouldn’t this be worse than running from Pure?”
“This portal used to be an Orange portal planet, you don’t know this, but the students were sent here on an expedition. The highest tier beast on this planet is advanced tier beasts. It turns out that there were many advanced tier beasts. It was enough for the military to decide to abandon it and classify it as a red portal planet.
“I am confident that if there are only advanced tier beasts, we should be able to avoid trouble. There may be the odd King Tier beast here or there, but it was clear that there aren’t many. This will be the perfect place for us both to train.”
Although Leo didn’t mention it, he had one more worry, but it was unlikely they would meet.
She thought about it, but in the end, it really was the only option they had. They could carry on running in disguise from shelter to shelter, being chased, never having a place to settle. Or she could take a risk, grow stronger with Leo and no longer have to be afraid of hiding.
“One year,” Erin said. “I want to meet up with the others when they leave school. I want to be strong enough to no longer have to worry about Trudream or Pure. If you can do those things, then I will come with you.”
Erin took Leo’s hand, and the two of them slowly started to walk through the portal together.
On the muddy ground, inside a hot jungle where the trees were so tall as if touching the sky and the tree trunks were as thick as houses. Little ripples of waves suddenly formed in the air, and shortly after, sparks of electricity came out of nowhere. A portal had soon shot open, and out of it came both Erin and Leo, stumbling and placing their hands on the ground, trying to balance themselves.
“Ahh, we’re here,” Erin said, wondering what the place looked like, but when she lifted her head, she was greeted with a sharp pointy spear.
“Intruders! we have two people who have come through a portal.” The man holding the spear said.
When looking around, both Leo and Erin noticed that they were completely surrounded by about thirty people, and they had their beast weapons in their hands, ready to engage in a fight.
“I thought you said this was a red portal planet,” Erin whispered. “There shouldn’t be people here, right?”
“There used to be a shelter here.” Leo replied, “But I thought they had abandoned it, or at least the military did.”
Up high on one of the trees, there was a wooden house at one of the platforms, built bigger than any other. Inside, a young man came rushing into the main room. “Arthur, Arthur…” The young boy shouted. “There are two people who came through a portal together; what should we do.”
Arthur stood up from his comfy chair he was in and started walking to the open outside entrance. “I know, I can smell him; he’s one of mine.”
*****
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