The passing of time felt so quick as it was Friday already. As usual, the streets were covered with snow but the thick snow was not an excuse for the guild members. They had to come to the knight's guild and attend some training or do some missions anyway. Ryo hated the cold, but Ryo's burning determination was stronger than the cold. He was the first guild member to come on the freezing Friday morning.
"Good morning, Ryo. It is a bit unusual for you to come this early. I appreciate your eagerness young knight!" said guild master Caesar.
"Thank you, sir. I just want to tell you that I managed to capture the mysterious serial killer. The first mission that you gave me was a success, sir. The serial killer is now waiting to be interrogated in the guild's interrogation room," said Ryo.
"No way...How did you manage to capture the serial killer?" asked the Gallade
"Just ask him or read his mind" said the Riolu casually.
The Gallade quickly went to the interrogation room. The Ursaring had regained his consciousness but still, he could not move his arms and legs yet due to the poison that Ryo crafted. The Gallade tried to talk to the Ursaring, but the Ursaring had difficulty speaking because of the paralysis poison. To make things quick and efficient, the Gallade decided to read the Ursaring's mind and found out the truth that the Ursaring was indeed the serial killer of Ivarstead. The punishment for the Ursaring was death penalty according to the law. The Gallade then returned to the Riolu.
"Excellent job Ryo, excellent. I admire the way you used your pure cunning and intellect instead of brute force. Well done! However, there is still one mission left to do before I allow you to travel to Avangard" said the Gallade.
"I know sir. I'll kill Wulfgar the scizor and rescue prince Alfred before you know it..." said the riolu.
"Good! that's the spirit!" said guild master Caesar.
"By the way, I need to talk with prince Alfred's parents. Do you know where they live?" said the Riolu.
"In the cloud district. House number 24." Said the Gallade.
"Thank you, sir" said the Riolu.
The Riolu then went to visit prince Alfred's parents. They lived in a huge mansion, but not as big as Natalie's mansion. Prince Alfred was a meowth and his parents were both persians.
"Good afternoon, I am Ryo from the knight's guild. The guild master has assigned me a mission to rescue your son." said Ryo.
"A small riolu? I was expecting someone tough, big, and also a fire type! Are you sure you've got what it takes to rescue our son?!" asked the father.
"I'll rescue him sir, I promise, but on one condition..." said the Riolu.
"We'll do anything. Just save our son, please!" said the mother.
"The reward of this mission is 1000 gold coins, right? Can you please give me half the reward first? Then I'll do the mission." Said the Riolu.
"Well, I don't know about that..." said the father.
"I won't fail the mission, just give me 500 gold coins" said the Riolu.
"Do what he says, dear..." said the mother.
"Oh well. Fine! Take this!" said the father as he reluctantly gave Ryo 500 gold coins.
"Thank you sir..." said the Riolu. After receiving the gold, he went to the university of Aeterna to meet Alicia in the university cafeteria. During lunch break, Ryo immediately talked to Alicia.
"Hi, Alicia I need your help." Said the Riolu.
"Sure. What do you need?" asked Alicia.
"I need some chemicals. Do you have some saltpeter and quicklime? Can I have those?" asked the Riolu.
"Of course. We have plenty in the university alchemy laboratory. But why do you need those chemicals?" asked Alicia.
"I need to burn somebody alive..." said the Riolu.
"Haha, very funny Ryo..." said Alicia as she chuckled a bit.
"I'm not joking Alicia. Can you please give me the chemicals?" asked the Riolu.
"Sure thing Ryo. I'll give them to you after the class ends. You are such a pyromaniac!" joked Alicia.
After getting the important chemicals form Alicia, Ryo went to the marketplace to purchase some oil, a wooden bucket, a small bag of stun spores, a candle and went to an abandoned shack. There, Ryo set up a trap. He put a bucket filled with oil, saltpeter, and quicklime over the door of the abandoned shack. It was a simple trap, but super effective. After Ryo was done setting up the trap, he went to Wulfgar's hideout.
"Wulfgar! I am Ryo from the knight's guild! I'm here to talk to you!" said the Riolu.
Wulfgar the Scizor emerged from his hideout.
"Finally! A worthy opponent! I know the knight's guild and some of its members! Wait...a Riolu? Is this a joke? I was expecting Brendan the blaziken to come but I didn't think they will send a kid like you to defeat me and rescue prince Alfred" said the scizor.
"I'm here not to fight. I'm here to give you the ransom money..." said the Riolu
"So, they have given up to defeat me? How pitiful. You have to give me at least 1500 gold coins or else I will not set prince Alfred free." Said the scizor.
"Take this bag of gold!" Said the Riolu as he gave Wulfgar the bag of gold that he received earlier form prince Alfred's parents.
"Hmmm, are you sure there are 1500 gold coins in this bag?" asked the Scizor.
"If you are not sure, you can count the gold coins." Said the Riolu.
"Okay. If there are less than 1500 coins, I'll kill you right here right now!" said the Scizor.
"Just count the coins" said the Riolu.
As the scizor began counting the gold coins, he became distracted by the gold and lowered his guard. Ryo used this opportunity to throw a bag of stun spores right in Wulfgar's face.
"AARGH! YOU SON OF A..." said the Scizor as he tried to wipe his face.
"HAHA! Take that you dumbass! So long sucker!" said the Riolu as he snatched back the bag of gold and left.
It took Wulfgar a while to recover form paralysis and he decided to chase down the fleeing Riolu. Then Wulfgar noticed something.... The Riolu left a trail of gold coins.
"That stupid riolu must not have realized that the bag of gold he is carrying has holes. Now All I have to do is to follow this trail of gold then I can catch and kill that damned riolu, hehehe...." Said Wulfgar to himself.
Wulfgar followed the trail of gold coins that Ryo deliberately left. The trail of gold coins led the scizor to an abandoned shack. Ryo was already waiting for the scizor in the abandoned shack, but he did not enter the abandoned shack through the door, he entered from the broken window...
"Aha! He must be hiding in that abandoned shack. How predictable..." said the scizor.
As the scizor entered the abandoned shack through the door, a bucket filled with oil, saltpeter, and quicklime fell and the scizor became soaked with the flammable mixture.
"DAMN IT! WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!" cursed the scizor.
Inside the abandoned shack, Ryo greeted the scizor while holding a burning candle.
"Hello there Wulfgar...." Said the Riolu. He then threw the burning candle at the scizor and the scizor combusted spectacularly.
"AAH! NOOO! I have 4 times weaknesses to fire! AARGH!!!" screamed the scizor.
The scizor rolled down on the floor and screamed in agony as his body was burning. The Riolu watched the scizor dying slowly from the fire while smiling victoriously.
"You deserve it, Wulfgar... haha..." said the riolu.
Half an our later, the scizor was now a burnt corpse. Ryo left the abandoned shack and returned to Wulfgar's hideout to set prince Alfred free.
"Thank you, kid" said the meowth.
"Don't mention it!" said the Riolu happily with a smile. The two then returned to Aeterna. Prince Alfred's parents were waiting anxiously. Their anxiety soon disappeared as they saw their son returning with the riolu.
"Mom, dad, I'm okay! This riolu has rescued me!" Said prince Alfred.
"Oh Thank goodness, I'm so worried..."said the mother.
"I don't know how you rescued my son but take these remaining 500 gold coins. Your service will forever be remembered..." said the father.
"Much obliged, sir..." said the Riolu.
On the next day, Ryo reported the success of the second mission to guild master Caesar.
"Sir, I have done the second mission that you gave me. Wulfgar is now dead and prince Alfred is safe and sound. Now can you please choose me to be one of the knights that will retrieve the icicle plate from Avangard?" asked the riolu.
"You have proven your worth Ryo! Of course I will choose you! Your intellect will bring great value to the squad! And I'm sure your father will be proud!" said the Gallade.
"Thank you so much sir!" said the Riolu. He had never been so happy before in his life. The riolu jumped for joy as he knew there was a small probability that he would be accepted as a student at the university of Aeterna. All he needed to do was to find kitab Al Bulhan and give it to professor Magnus. Since it was Saturday, Ryo decided to go to Alicia's house as usual. However, as he arrived on the front door, Kyle the Fennekin opened the door instead of Alicia.
"Hi there, ummm...Where is your big sister?" asked the Riolu
"He is meeting professor Magnus at the university." Said Kyle.
"I thought there are no classes on Saturday. Oh well, see ya!" said the riolu. He then went to Natalie's mansion.
Meanwhile, Alicia was speaking to Professor Magnus in his office.
"Lord Mewtwo has informed me that the selected knight's guild member will be going to Avangard to retrieve the icicle plate. I need you to go along with them to Avangard...Alicia..." said professor Magnus.
"Why? And Why me?" asked the Braixen.
"I'll explain. You see, one of the aristocrats who is also the famous soprano and court composer of Lord Mewtwo, Princess Meloetta, is suffering form an illness called the crimson fever." Said professor Magnus.
"The good news is, the disease is curable by a potion. The bad news is, some the ingredients to craft the potion are not available in Arcadius..." said Professor Magnus.
"What are the ingredients?" asked the Braixen
"The first two ingredients are only available in Arcadius. They are red herb and and trama root. The last two ingredients, white herb, and snowberries, are only available in Avangard." Said professor Magnus.
"Why do I have to go along with the knights? Can't you just tell the knights to gather the ingredients?" asked Alicia.
"There are two problems. First, Snowberries have a very short shelf-life, lasting only for 3 to 4 days and then they will rot. Even if the knights manage to obtain the snowberries, they will be already rotten by the time the knights are back in Aeterna. You can't use rotten snowberries to craft the potion. And the second problem is, the potion is known to be extremely difficult to craft. So difficult, that only a student of your calibre can craft the potion. So, the solution is, you have to bring along the red herb and trama root to Avangard, find the white herb and snowberries, then craft the potion on the spot." Explained professor Magnus.
"I don't know about this...." Said Alicia.
"Oh, and I heard that Akira Yamazaki was chosen by guild master Caesar to be one of the knights that will go to Avangard..." said Professor Magnus slyly.
"What?! Really?!" asked the braixen.
"Yes...Imagine...travelling with your crush to a faraway land...must be very romantic..." said Professor Magnus.
"Then sign me up! I'll go to Avangard with the knights!" said Alicia.
"Excellent..." said Professor Magnus with a cunning smile.