Medusa was staring at Mike while thinking,
"One boy from each of the Ten Great Families carries a curse..."
Sota looked at Mike's face. The shine that once filled his eyes was gone.
Turning his head toward Medusa, Sota thought,
"What will Medusa say now?"
"Will he break his promise?"
Medusa's gaze fell on Sota, who was silently looking at him.
He took a long breath and said,
"Let's sit down and talk."
His voice echoed through the forest, and both Mike and Sota stared at Medusa's face.
After walking for some time, they arrived at an empty field. There was no one around for miles. Warm winds brushed across the grass.
Medusa sat down on the field and said to Mike and Sota,
"Come, sit."
Without saying anything, both of them sat down.
Without wasting time, Medusa asked Mike directly,
"So… you want to go to the Mountain of Jinchi to either remove this curse or learn how to control it?"
Mike replied in a weak voice,
"Yeah…"
Seeing Mike act so differently, Sota thought,
"He usually talks so much..."
"But now he's completely quiet..."
Medusa asked in a serious tone,
"What exactly is your curse?"
Mike sat straight and answered slowly,
"You probably already have some idea…"
The moment Mike said that, Medusa remembered the time when he had taken Sota far away from Otter City.
"I can make a rough guess," Medusa said, "but understanding a curse isn't that easy."
Mike slightly opened his mouth. His lips trembled, as if the words he was about to say carried a heavy burden.
"I… I've fought in many battles until now."
"In the beginning, I used to go on missions with my friends."
"I won every battle I fought…"
"But my friends paid the price for those victories."
"They all died."
As Mike said those words, silence spread across the field. Only the sound of the wind could be heard.
Hearing this, Sota was shocked.
"They all died… but how?"
Medusa silently listened to everything.
Mike continued,
"When I fight… I stop being myself."
"During battle, I become insane."
"In one fight, I completely destroyed an entire city."
"Everyone died — children, elders, knights… everyone."
Sota couldn't believe what he had just heard.
"He destroyed an entire city?"
Medusa slowly closed his eyes and thought,
"This curse is far more dangerous than it sounds..."
"Especially for someone from the Celester Family..."
Medusa slowly stood up from the ground.
When Mike saw Medusa getting up, he lowered his head and spoke softly,
"So… does that mean we're not a team anymore?"
"If I stay with you guys…"
"Then all of you will end up in danger too."
At that moment, Mike heard Medusa's voice.
"You're right…"
"But we made a promise."
"And we're going to keep it."
Mike slowly raised his head.
Medusa and Sota were standing in front of him. Sota had his hand stretched out toward Mike.
"We're still a team," Sota said.
"And we'll fight together."
Mike grabbed Sota's hand, and Sota pulled him up while saying,
"Besides, you're way too strong for us to let you go."
Medusa watched them quietly before turning his face away and saying,
"We don't have time to waste."
"We need to start training too."
And so…
a new journey began.