They were silent. No one could utter a word after what Aquarius had revealed. Frederick looked at the hall that led deeper into the cave, worries filling his mind.

"The Ruby Maiden\'s protectors really did something incredible here," Frederick chuckled. He smirked and raised his right hand while clenching his left hand right in front of him. "But something like this couldn\'t possibly stop me."

"What are you planning to do?" Lance asked.

The red-haired man looked at him with a wide toothy grin, "Nothing."

His right hand lit ablaze with a bright burning flame. The flame encircled his wrists before slowly forming an orb.

"What incredible concentration of magic," Guan Yin whispered. She, along with Kaminari and Kusa were all in awe after feeling Frederick\'s mana. "Is he the strongest one of you?"

"No," Luck answered with a shrug. "He\'s just average."

Connor leaned in to whisper in Elliot\'s ear, "If you count someone who could clear a Strike singlehandedly "average", then Frederick is average."

Luck snorted, clearly hearing what Connor said. "I forgot we have a joker in our group."

"Enough, Luck," Frederick said. "Red Bird Flames."

The orb of flames from Frederick\'s right hand shot into the darkness, forming a bird and traveling through the darkness. They waited for it to crash on to anything or show something, but the the light just died while it got further into the cave.

"What happened?" Luck asked. "Did someone kill it?"

"My Red Bird Flame isn\'t that easy to extinguish," Frederick said. "There\'s something in this cave, and we have to find out what. Let\'s go."

They were about to walk when Kusa suddenly fell to his knees. They all looked at him while he stared at he ceiling.

"Are you okay?" Kaminari asked.

Kusa looked at him and shook his head violently. He then coughed hard and vomited blood. The red crimson liquid littered the floor around him, making a puddle.

"Kusa, what the hell," Guan Yin gasped. She ran to the Flame Master\'s side and touched his forehead. "He\'s burning up."

"He needs a healer," Aquarius said. "I just mended his wounds, but he wasn\'t healed. Plus, there must be poison in those spikes that hit him."

"Spikes?" Frederick asked. "What spikes?"

"Kusa unfortunately fell to a platform with large spikes that pierced his body," Elizabeth answered this time, cutting Aquarius off before he could even speak. "If it\'s just really deep wounds, he wouldn\'t act like this."

"Okay," Frederick sighed. "Kids, go lead Kusa outside. He needs a healer\'s spell or else he won\'t last long."

The kids he was referring to were the students of Elliot, Viper and Christina. They both looked at each other before nodding, taking Kusa with them outside.

"Is there anything else I should know about?" Frederick asked.

It was silent for a few seconds. Frederick was about to turn around so they could re-enter the cave when Elizabeth raised her hand.

"I do," the woman said, walking forward to get nearer to Frederick. "I don\'t understand why the king appointed you as the one second in command when you\'re not even a Top Adventurer."

The entire hall was filled with silent gasps. Their eyes had widened while they stared at Elizabeth. The woman was also looking at Frederick right in his eyes with a strong determination. She really wanted to get answers, and by the looks of it, she won\'t stop until she gets her answers.

Luck was the first to talk after the shock had settled in their minds. "Do you really need to ask that now? We\'re in a dire situation and that\'s what you have in mind–"

Frederick raised his hands right in front of Luck so he could stop. The red haired man then turned to his friend and slowly shook his head, signalling for Luck to not continue with his words.

"It\'s rather simple, Miss Elizabeth," Frederick said. "Because the King and the other membership of the Trinity of Power knows my capabilities, and they trust me."

"So, they don\'t trust me?" Elizabeth asked. "Other than Zeus who is a Guardian and a Legendary Figure, I\'m the one with the highest rank. Why should it be you instead?"

"Because of thoughts like this that the Trinity of Power didn\'t entrust the title to you," Frederick said bluntly. He returned the glare to Elizabeth, making the woman shake slightly.

"I have vast knowledge with magic, tactics, and power," Frederick said. "Even when I was young I was able to impress everyone around me. But I didn\'t stop there. I always analyze everything before I act, always mindful of the benefits or consequences of my actions.

"My power is also relevant," Frederick snickered, walking past everyone and pointing his hand on the exit. "I\'m at Top 103 because I don\'t take the exams and I don\'t take merits. But this is just the shortest extent of my powers."

Fredrick growled and fired a jet of flames from his palm. The flames swallowed the space of the hall that led to the exit, making it explore in a fan-shaped area when it was unleashed outside.

Just when they thought their jaws wouldn\'t drop again, they just did.

The flames that exited the cave formed letters in the air outside. Frederick rolled his eyes and grunted as he shaped his attack into the letters.

\'WE ARE OKAY\'

The three letters were the letters that Frederick from his attack. He looked at his friends and chuckled, "Sorry. I had to tell them that we\'re not in danger. Or else, they would hurry here and misunderstand that attack as a request for help."

"I–I," Elizabeth stuttered. She gulped as she watched Frederick walk closer to her. "You\'re strong."

The red-haired man placed his hand on her shoulder. He smiled at her and nodded, "I hope this made everything clear."

"It did," Elizabeth said. "I\'m sorry."

"Aww," Frederick snickered playfully. "You don\'t need to be sorry. You were just curious, so you decided to follow you questions."

"Yeah," Elizabeth couldn\'t do anything else but to agree. She looked down in shame while clutching her skirt. "I was naive."

"It\'s okay to be curious sometimes," Frederick muttered. "But don\'t let your curiosity eat everything inside your mind and hinder your capabilities to think rationally. We\'re created by the Almighty to be smart for a reason."

"Wow," Elizabeth breathed out. "Now I understand. Thank you so much, Frederick."

The man gave her a firm but soft tap on her shoulder. "Since you use flower magic, can\'t you create a vine that would lead deeper into this cave?"

"I tried it before," Elizabeth said. "But the the vines would be chopped off and return to me with their severed bodies.

"Odd," Frederick whispered. "A cave that\'s as if it has a mind on its own. It can interact with the Adventurers and even interfere with without any spawn point."

"I guess we\'ll do the old method, but with a twist," Frederick snickered.

He gathered everyone around them and raised both his hands. From his palms, red strings made of flames shoot out.. The strings tied themselves to the people in the cave, as if they\'re connecting everyone.