One by one, they turned to Ren, waiting for his answer.

Ren reached for Elara’s hand and gently held it. "I choose the Aether Organization."

It would be hard to keep his promise if he joined the Nexus faction since he knew Ravenna would not recruit Elara.

Elara lowered her head shyly as she glanced at their intertwined hands. They were in front of everyone, so his actions were like telling everyone that they were a couple.

"Haha! Great! That’s the right decision." Cassandra laughed happily before glancing at Ravenna briefly.

Ravenna ignored her and threw a question at him, "Are you sure?"

"Yes." Ren nodded.

Ravenna stared at their intertwined hands for a moment before turning around.

"Let’s go back now." Ravenna knew the reason why Ren had refused to join her, so she decided to give up on him.

"Please, wait a second." Ren stopped her.

"What is it?" Ravenna asked.

"I have a problem with three of your new members." Ren glanced at Lucas and his lackeys for a moment. "We agreed to fight after the test, so please let us settle our business first."

"Oh? Something like that happened?" Cassandra’s expression turned excited.

Ravenna didn’t agree immediately.

Ren was the strongest participant, so she knew Lucas and his lackeys would lose the fight.

Since Ravenna remained silent, Cassandra immediately said, "You won’t interfere with their matters, right?"

Ravenna looked at Cassandra before shifting her gaze to Lucas and his underlings. "Go fight him."

"But Miss, we..." Lucas and his lackeys hoped she would protect them.

They had seen how strong Ren was, so they knew what would happen to them if they fought him.

"Why are you acting like a coward now? Didn’t you say you would beat me after the test? Where did your arrogance go?" Ren found it funny.

They previously acted all high and mighty.

They even behaved like they owned the place, but now, they looked like cowards as if the people in front of him were no longer the same ones he had seen before.

"Miss, we don’t want to fight him." Lucas wore a pleading expression, hoping she would defend them.

"Yes. We are not his opponents." Mason and Caleb added.

"Haha!" Cassandra held her stomach and laughed loudly. "Ravenna, your new members are cowards. Haha."

Ravenna’s face darkened. "Go and fight him!"

Their reputation would be tarnished if they backed down from the fight, so she forced them to face him.

Since she refused to help them, Lucas and his lackeys turned to Ren and Elara.

But instead of yelling at them like before, they bowed their heads low.

"We were wrong. Please forgive us." They said in unison.

"Haha!" Cassandra burst into waves of laughter. "Everyone, did you see it? They are bowing their heads. Haha!"

Ravenna’s eyes turned cold from fury. "You three are expelled from the Nexus Organization and will never be accepted again."

She could accept it if they lost the battle, but bowing their heads and asking for forgiveness without a fight was a disgrace and an unforgivable sin.

"Let’s go!" Ravenna didn’t want to stay any longer, as it would make her fury explode again.

"Miss, please don’t kick us out! We promise to practice diligently and become powerful mages in the future." Lucas and his lackeys chased them.

"Get lost!" Lena roared angrily, sending them flying with a burst of force. "You should be lucky that Lady Ravenna didn’t kill you. Now leave and never mention that you were ever accepted into our organization."

The trio dropped to their knees and wore sorrowful expressions.

Previously, they were one step closer to their dreams, but now everything was shattered into pieces.

"What are you going to do to them?" Cassandra asked.

Instead of answering immediately, Ren turned to Elara, "Do you want me to beat them?"

"No. They have faced the consequences, so let’s just leave them be." Ren had beaten Mason and Caleb, so Elara decided to forget their grudge.

"...Alright." Actually, he still wanted to beat them to death, but he decided to listen to her.

Shortly after that, Cassandra took them to her organization.

When Ren walked past Lucas and his lackeys, he said without glancing at them, "You brought this on yourselves."

His voice was calm and indifferent, as if the anger and hostility had already faded from his mind.

Their pupils quivered for a moment when his words reached their ears.

’Yeah. It’s because of us.’ 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

----

Cassandra and the others were currently on their way to the headquarters of the Aether Organization.

Valoria was a large prefecture-level city, divided into three districts: Arden in the west, Loran in the center, and Velis in the east.

Each district governed ten to fifteen towns and roughly forty villages across its territory.

The base of the Aether Organization was located in the Velis district, or more precisely in Navile Town.

Even though it was a neighboring town, they only needed twenty minutes to reach their destination.

As Isolde was explaining their faction and showing the new members around, Cassandra headed to the leader’s office to deliver her report.

She returned with two genius shifters.

One of them even awakened both paths. It could be said she had done an excellent job.

"Maybe I will get a big reward later." Cassandra smiled happily.

At the same time, a gorgeous lady was working hard in her office.

Her long silver hair matched perfectly with her pretty oval face, and her beautiful violet eyes gave off a calm yet undeniable aura of power and high status.

Aria Virelith!

Besides her title as the leader of the Aether Organization, she was publicly known as the Silver Queen since she was one of the strongest and most beautiful awakeners in Valoria.

Even many famous celebrities paled in comparison to her popularity, as her beauty was enough to outshine anything.

While Aria was reading the report, the sound of someone knocking on the door reached her ears.

Without shifting her gaze from the paperwork, she immediately said, "Come in."

Once Cassandra closed the door behind her, she approached Aria with a happy face. "Leader, I have good news! I’m sure you will love it."

"What is it?" Aria continued reading the report without looking at Cassandra.

"First, we’ve got two genius shifters." Cassandra raised her index finger. "They are lovers. The girlfriend killed three magical creatures, while the boyfriend took down six."

"Six?" Aria stopped reading and looked up at Cassandra.

"Yes," Cassandra answered. "And the last piece of good news is that the boyfriend awakened both paths. In other words, he is both a shifter and a mage."

"Both paths?" Aria mused in shock.

The last person to awaken both paths had appeared five hundred years ago. Even though he later mysteriously disappeared, he was extremely powerful in his time.

"Yes. He used both magic and innate abilities in the test." Cassandra gave a brief summary of his battle with the winged lion. "Leader, I also have bad news."

"What is it?" Aria asked curiously.

"I fought Ravenna over him, so our relationship with them has gotten worse," Cassandra told her the reason why they ended up fighting.

"Did you win?" Aria asked.

"The fight stopped halfway, but I managed to hit her in the face, while she never landed a single attack on me." Cassandra could not help but grin happily when she recalled Ravenna’s furious expression.

"Then, it’s fine." Aria didn’t care about what she had done to Ravenna.

As long as she won the fight and didn’t ruin their reputation, she would let Cassandra do whatever she wanted.

"Haha! You are the best, leader!" Cassandra gave a thumbs up.

She then told Aria what she had promised Ren and Elara.

Aria was fine with the terms she had offered them.

She even assigned Cassandra as their guide and ordered her to treat them specially, since they could bring the organization to new heights.

"You did a very good job this time, Cassandra!" Aria praised her.

"Hehe. Leader, can I get a reward for my amazing work?" Cassandra tried her luck.

"Go to the storage room and take ten potions. You can also visit the secret library for a week." Aria agreed instantly.

"Great!" Cassandra smiled happily. "Then, I will take my leave now."

Once Cassandra left, Aria rose from her chair and looked outside through the window.

’Someone who awakened both paths? I’m suddenly curious about him.’