Within the entire group, only five of the Twelve had their familiars-Corvan, Rowe, Tamara, Charles, and Raziel. The first-ranker was the only one whose year level was below four. Courtney, Elfre, and Aneeka were about to summon their familiars this year. However, the sight of the five forming a semi-circle to call upon the representatives of the quintessence of their very being. It was marvelous.

"Look at those cocky looks on their faces." Aneeka was seething.

"Please." Elfre growled. "I want to wipe those out."

"Nah. That probably won't happen." Courtney jokingly stated, giving the other girls a knowing look. "Because we'll be joining them soon."

The three girls began laughing hysterically that the others-who were long from getting their familiars-glared at them enviously. The twins, Keelan, and Valeriana were all sporting looks of bitterness and resentment while Brindon, who seemingly remained apathetic, had the ground beneath him shifting for some reason.

"You guys . . ." Valeriana laughed, erasing the same look she had on her face a while ago for a more positive one. The look on the four's faces was amusing. "Come on, relax. Our time will come and we'll be the ones laughing."

"Right now, I just want to feel angry." Keelan pouted. "My time will come, people!" He yelled, pointing a finger at the cocky five. "My familiar will be awesome, strong, big, powerful, and . . . BIG! Really! REALLY BIG!"

He was ignored, however.

Simultaneously, the five performed the bridging process of the summoning. In other words, creating a door from their elements for their familiars to pass through. Valeriana already saw Corvan do it before, and since it hadn't been too long when they last called their familiars, they did not need to cut their hands for it.

"I call forth-Alva!" Electricity sparked around Raziel until a snake began crawling around his neck.

"I call forth-Marius!" Charles's familiar, the serpent, appeared behind him and gave a devastating roar that reminded Valeriana how it felt to be inside his mouth. Its hideously large body floated midair, occupying a great deal of space. Showing a look disgust, Valeriana gave a shiver.

"Wha-I told you not to do that!" The fourth scolded, seeing as a gush of air rained down on him that threw his hair and clothes out of place.

'But this beast wanted a good entrance.' It replied, making Valeriana laugh out loud.

Geez. This guy should be Tamara's partner.

"I call forth-Iolani!" This time, it was Tamara who summoned her familiar. The familiar, flaming bird appeared on the third-ranker's shoulder, composed and calmly looking about its environment. Tamara seemed disappointed by her choice of appearance and grumbled, "Sheesh, you've got to act better than that if you want to make an impression."

'Oh, shush now,' Iolani glared. 'I am not like thee who are very flamboyant.'

"That's it! Charles!" Tamara was seething as he came over. "Give me your familiar! I want yours!"

"Tch." The fourth-ranker seemed more frustrated. "Do you think I'm the only one contemplating why in the world you got such a splendid bird as Iolani as a familiar when, obviously, we would've worked better together?"

"Seriously, those two." The twin whistled.

"They really should exchange familiars."

Rowe gave a short chuckle before calmly waving his hand. "Come forth now, Cheveyo."

The beautiful, white owl from before gracefully floated after Rowe released a brush of white light from his hands. Unlike the other elements whose flaring, flashy and grandiose entrance put up a good show, Cheveyo came in so softly that it would've gone unnoticed if no one was watching.

Lastly, the main part of the show, was Corvan's familiar, Avaro. Starting from the blue, hot flames that brazenly fired up from the ranker's hands, to the graceful arrival of the familiar himself, everyone could not help but feel awe.

"By the gods. Corvan's so lucky." Aneeka sighed. "To have a very powerful familiar like Avaro-he's really the prodigy everyone expects him to be."

"Tch. I can do that too." Zion was burning with anger at the display of power.

He was ignored.

"Marius and Iolani would've been good too if they weren't made off like a joke every time by their contractors." Elfre shook her head in disappointment.

"Well, a familiar is supposed to represent the inner part of you, right? Maybe there's a Tamara in Charles and a Charles in Tamara." Valeriana concluded, feeling smart at the moment. "Like, that should explain a bit since they're . . . related."

"Oh, so you found out already." Somebody quipped.

"Anyway . . ." Valeriana ran forward and jumped on the twin-tailed lion. "Avaro!"

''Tis nice seeing you again, lheuim ansur.' The twin-tailed lion greeted, his fur vibrating as the current fifth-ranker embraced his broad neck. Burying her face into his fluffy mane, the girl highly appreciated the warmth he provided.

"Please be my familiar instead." She muttered, causing the beast to chuckle heartily at her comment. Corvan, on the other hand, was looking down at her with a blunt look of displeasure.

"Get one for yourself." He commented, crossing his arms.

'I have pledged myself to heilm juaire 'til his soul moves on to his next life.' Avaro told her. 'Thou shalt have a familiar more suitable for thyself than anything else.'

"You heard him."

Valeriana gave him a glare. "Don't be so mean all the time, 'kay?! At least share your blessings a bit. It's not like I'm going to take them all for myself."

And while Charles and Tamara were still debating in the background, the entire group was becoming weary of the growing noise around them that Cifaro all so suddenly stepped forward and roared.

They all quieted, all eyes turning to him.

'Good, now that I have thy attention, shall I ask all when we should start?'

'Cifaro!' Avaro and the other familiars were surprised, so they stepped forward and gave the old beast a greeting. 'I have not seen thee since the last century. Hast thou not gotten a contractor to serve?'

'Unfortunately, I am afraid I will no longer be suitable for such affiliations. With the problem of this beast's pack, trouble is brewing.'

The entirety of the Twelve was confused now.

'What dost thou mean, fellow beast?' Marius dove a bit nearer to their gathering that it was starting to look like a zoo.

'I have been overtaken by demonic temptation.'

Avaro was more than shocked, including Iolani, Marius, and Cheveyo. Alva hissed in wonder and slithered away from Raziel, who was rubbing his chin as contemplated.

'But that issss impossssible.' Alva hissed, his tongue flying in the air frequently.

'See for thyself.' Cifaro's head turned to the frozen lake before them.

'Whoever was capable of such atrocity?' Iolani squawked.

'A sudden rise in demonic activity.' Avaro was suspicious. 'How many years had it been since the Great War with Friedel and the demon lord?'

"It's four thousand." Valeriana quipped. "If I'm not mistaken. I mean-that's what I read."

"That's correct." Corvan told her. "It's been four thousand years-almost, actually. It's exactly three thousand nine hundred and ninety-eight. We're just about to go into the fourth millennia since the founding of the kingdom."

"Yeah, right." The non-ranker rolled his eyes.

"Shut up, you imbecile." Corvan warned him.

"Do you mind telling what these people are talking about?" Elfre and the others looked frustrated. "I mean, not exactly everyone here has the ability to hear those things, you know."

'Something about that tells this one we have forgotten something.'

'The blood moon!' Cheveyo, this time, spoke up. 'How insolent! The blood moon is coming forth!'

"The blood moon?" Rowe came forward. "Cheveyo, what on Valemnia do you mean by this?"

"The blood moon in Valemnia occurs every four thousand years." Charles informed them. "It is during this time that Valdis was reborn as the darkest entity. During the Great War, the moon bled the color of blood and under this light did the demons start spreading chaos."

"Wait. What did you just say?" Tamara interjected.

Charles became impatient. "I said. It occurred-"

"No-after that!"

"It was that time that Valdis was reborn-"

"After that!"

"The moon bled-huh." It was only then did it occur to the fourth-ranker. "The moon bled."

"THE MOON BLED!" Tamara exclaimed. "Wasn't that part of that stupid riddle Cifaro gave a while ago?"

"That's stupid." Zion was nothing but blunt. "You can't even make the moon bleed, much less reach it."

"I recon you don't know anything about symbolism? What an idiot." Elfre huffed.

Cifaro was taken aback at the realization.

"From front to back will point a star," Rowe recited from memory. "To the right then the left its sweeping starts. When the head turns black like coal, the moon will bleed to our goal. Obtain the cross, face a loss. Break the shield, start the wield. Rubies will open by the morning light."

"That means something bad will happen during the blood moon?" Keelan started jumping nervously. "But bad things are not good!"

"Well-" Charles started brainstorming.

"The blood moon must have a significant relationship with the demonic energy. Do you think this has something to do with their strength?" Corvan was frowning at this moment already. "Head turns black like coal. What in the world does this symbolize? But, the only thing I remember about something turning black is a demonic transformation-specifically Valdis. When the Great War raged the lands, those who sided with the demon lord were given black hair and eyes to symbolize their transgression. Rubies open by the morning light?"

"Then, what is the head? A head turning into a demon? Haha. That's stupid."

"Just shut up! You're not helping!"

"Rubies must be about something red too, right?"

"How about the star? Front, back, left and right. What sort of directions are they pointing at?"

"North, south, east and west?"

They all gasped.

"Preluresia, Denovegasia, Larkovia, Arlandia! Aren't those the places? And if Preluresia came first, then won't Denovegasia come next? It's chronological order. I bet after these four continents, Aetheria will come last before the Central Continent." Tamara was on a roll.

"What do you know? You do have some brain in that head of yours." The twins joked.

"But, why are they targeting these continents?"

"Let's continue this later. We still have some beasts to purify."