The second Mai returned to her tent she collapsed limply outside it, refusing to move further.

"Mmm, I'm dying."

Immediately she was joined by her friend Vanessa that fell on her face with a blissful look on her face as the blood that had been pooling in her legs finally started to properly circulate after what felt like hours. The sunset the two of them were too tired to enjoy marked the end of the expeditions 7th day in a row of almost all day long exercise of some form or another, which had started taking a toll on their somewhat well trained bodies.

"What day is it even?"

"I don't know, don't want to think.."

"What a coincidence, neither do I."

Time seemed to be an abstract force for the girls, as their minds slipped in and out of focus while they laid out on the gra.s.s as the sound around them seemed to drown out into nothingness.

"Time for stretching."

But their state of empty bliss couldn't last forever, no matter how tired they were that demon always seemed to find them.

"Can't I skip today Mare? I'll give you lots of candy if you leave me alone."

Too mentally and physically exhausted to come up with an elaborate way to skip the days finally bit of torture Mai desperately tried to bribe herself out of her current paril-

"But you don't have any candy.."

- And failed spectaually. Mare proving the ever bright and good mannered child would come by every day and make sure they stretched after an entire day of exorcise, even if they were too exhausted to do it themselves she would help them along.

"Then I'll start with Venessa today.."

"Please.."

Letting out weak words of protest as she tried to crawl away the elver was quickly grabbed by Mare that sat her upright as she kneeled down behind her.

"Take a deep breath."

"Owww! owowowowowowow!!"

"I told you to relax.."

"Please G.o.ds above stop this- Oww!"

"Come on, cooperate and you will be lead towards paradise."

"Ow! It hurts!"

"Last one, deep breath this time for real."

"No, nononono-"

At that moment the sceam of a certain elver could be heard all over the camp area, having become a somewhat daily occurrence it marked the end of the day.

"Next time just kill me…"

Having been devoid of her pride and sense of self worth Venessa collapsed limply on the gra.s.s outside her tent in the cold gra.s.s.

"Now for you Mai~"

With a thin smile on her face Mare slowly approached her next friend (victim) in need of stretching.

"C-can't we talk about?"

"Mmm… No."

"Please! Just give me another day and I'll be able to pay off my debt, I don't have the money yet!"

"... What are you talking about? More importantly take a deep breath."

-

Having claimed her second victim of the day Mare collapsed next to her two friends and spread out on the cold gra.s.s as she took a look at her hands. Looking at her hands the young beastkin failed to remember the last time her hands were this clean, no nails were missing from working in the mine, her knuckles weren't bare from fighting for her life and even the worst of the scars that had covered her hands and body had been removed. Her life truly had changed for the better, Mare genuinely believed so. From the moment she had decided to follow Lux who saved her life in that cursed arena, Mare slowly started feeling the feelings that she had long since thought had died completely were slowly returning. Having reminiscenced for a bit Mare suddenly sat up as her large ears on top of her head started twitching.

"What's wrong?"

Speaking out through her exhaustion Mai had noticed Mare's aleated state.

"It's nothing, Lux is just calling for me."

"More training?"

"Mmm, be careful not to catch a cold."

Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

Leaving her two friends behind with those words as she ran towards the edge of the camp Mai and Vanessa could only continue to be amazed by their friend's seemingly endless stamina.

---

"Let's move. Even if we're hidden we need to be in and out as fast as possible, kill a few kids then we grab a hostage and retreat."

As night had fallen the group of monster hunters committed to their plan, unknowingly sealing their fate as they were already under close observation from a tree above. As the 10 monster hunters spread out in a line formation and slowly closed in on their target, but as they made it to a clearing the surviving hunters discovered something was wrong, suddenly the 10 hunters had been reduced to only 4.

"What the fu!-"

Then only 3 remained, and in a split second later only a single hunter remained standing.

"Good evening, I believe your family informed the academy that you weren't going to join us."

With a casual att.i.tude Lux approached the last hunter with a smile on her face as she dragged along the twitching copse of his former ally by the head.

"W!-"

As the n.o.ble youth tried talking Lux's kali system coalesced from the multiple spear like structures she had used to kill the other hunters, forming itself into a single tentacle that gripped Andrew by the head and morphed around his head as it lifted him into the air.

"Oh no, you don't f.u.c.king get to talk Andrew. The only reason you're still alive right now is because of your father, he has been very supportive of our ongoing projects. Now here's what going to happen, I will only say this once so pay attention."

Brining the youth closer Lux was glad she had worn her mask with built in environmental filtering as Andrew soiled himself, but didn't let it distract from her task at hand.

"When you wake up you're going to have no weapons, none of your expensive tools and you'll be alone in the wilderness. From there it's up to you, live or die, I can't really be bothered with much more in the way of mercy, not when you threaten to destroy what he finds so calming."

While Lux sent a swarm of nanomachines into the unfortunate youth's mouth, streaming into his bloodstream and scanned his amygdala, hippocampus, cerebellum, and the prefrontal cortex for memories the orbital manine didn't find any trace of Andrew's mysterious benefactor and therefore concluded that he had acted alone.