An Lin continued to pick at her fingernails despite the increasing tension.

Some of the members of other groups started to look over as they saw something to stave off their boredom.

"Um, Guys?"

The trio currently in conflict continued to argue without reservation and completely ignored Van.

Van watched as the black haired red eyed man marched over with annoyance.

"Shut up!"

Xuan Gan turned and was about to retort when her face suddenly went pale.

"Lord M-m-marshal!"

She stammered as she threw a sloppy salute.

This was the lord marshal? The expressions of the other two turned ugly.

Van backed away towards the corner An Lin was sitting and sat down beside her. He watched as the Lord Marshal gave the trio a lecture.

Suddenly, Van decided that he would try to get to know Lin An.

"So... what do you usually like to do?"

An Lin stared at him quizzically.

"Um... What do you usually do in your free time?"

The sounds of Xuan Gan getting punished could be heard as Van failed miserably to start a conversation with the introverted girl.

As he was about to try once again, the Marshal decided to make an announcement.

"Now that everyone has gotten friendly with their team. It's time for us to move out!"

Chairs creaked and the floor groaned as everyone stood up, eager for some hunting.

Van stood up eyes blazing ready for battle.

A lot of boring walking later, Van finally noticed his empty stomach. His face paled.

"I think we forgot to eat breakfast."

He looked at the mouse with a mournful gaze. The mouse rubbed its stomach showing that it had already eaten.

"Why didn't you remind me?"

Van groaned as he rummaged through his pack for something to eat. After a few minutes, he finally found a sausage half eaten.

"Hey! You ate my food!"

The Mouse squeaked its innocence and hid in his pocket. Van sighed and was just about get his payback when the Marshal held up his hand to stop. It was evening and the sun seemed about ready to set.

"It's getting late, we will rest here for the night and continue on at dawn."

The group of about 200 Martial Artists stopped and started setting up camp.

After the confrontation with the Lord Martial, Han was placed as leader.

The team, after about an hour or so, finally cluttered together 3 tents and a pot over a fire. An Lin was slowly stirring the pot of stew made from lard, rice, and a few leaves of basil.

"I could eat anything right now."

Van groaned as he held himself back from diving at the pot.

After about 10 minutes, Van went in for the ladle and gave himself a full bowl. As he sat down, he made sure he didn't spill a single drop.

He proceeded to eat a spoonful. He was rewarded with a burnt tongue and laughs from the others.

"Ah!"

Van dashed to the nearby river and washed out his tongue. The mouse came out of the pocket and decided to itself to some of the water.

"Time to go away now. I don't want the others knowing of my trump card."

The mouse squeaked unhappily but froze suddenly. Van followed the mouses stare and found An Lin, who had recently dropped the dirty dishes she was holding, standing there.

"Oh, h.e.l.lo."

An Lin was just about to walk away when Van put a hand on her shoulder. She instinctively slapped him. This resulted in him flying and rolling down into the river.

"It's okay. I deserved that."

He grinned, embarra.s.sed. An Lin came over and helped him get up.

"Could you turn around? I need to change."

An Lin's face flushed a bright red as she turned around.

Van quickly stripped off his clothes and put on new black clothing.

"It's fine now."

She turned around and found a strange sort of charm coming from Van.