I gazed around, still baffled by what was happening. Teleportation was incredible. But aside from that, where the hell were we?

  We stood on cracked brown ground, littered with scorch marks and dents. It looked as though this place had been a battlefield.

  The towering walls that surrounded the area gave it the feel of a prison.

  I asked, "Where are we? Please don’t tell me this was all an elaborate plan to imprison us." My voice cracked as I asked the last part.

  "Ha, no. It's the training grounds," she replied.

  God damn it. I expected some light training, but seeing the state of this place, I just knew it was going to be intense.

  Wait, I was probably jumping to conclusions. We were newbies. Why the hell would it be brutal? We would most definitely start with the basics. And… we could worry about that after we ate.

  I deliberately fell back onto the hard ground with a thump. “We can deal with this training stuff later. Right now, let’s enjoy the rewards from our theft.”

  I clasped my hands and muttered a tiny prayer, asking for forgiveness. Please don’t let karma come after me! Please don’t let karma come after me!

  The others sat near me, eyes fixed on the huge package.

  I took one of the meals, which was in a wooden box.

  The others followed suit, like a pack of hungry animals. Of course, I couldn’t let Ghomas get one. What had that bastard done to deserve it? He couldn’t be hungry anyway—he was just a greedy little shit.

  I swiped the meal from his hand, taking full advantage of my superior stats.

  Ghomas stared at his hands for a few seconds before looking at me. "What’s the meaning of this?"

  "You aren’t hungry."

  "How the hell would you know?! Do you have my stomach?"

  "Don’t care. Cry about it later."

  Vacinay snickered while boasting her meal, practically dancing with it, while Hessien caressed his box, whispering words of affection to it as though it were a baby.

  Ghomas shook his head dramatically, as though betrayed. "I see now. I thought we were… homies. But clearly that isn’t the case."

  He stood up and tried to act cool, walking away.

  Where the hell was he going? This place was walled off.

  It didn’t take long for him to return, just to lie down with his limbs spread, staring at the clouds. "Okay, I forgive you all."

  "Kay," I responded.

  "We don’t," Vacinay chimed in. "You're lucky I wasn’t the one with the knife. I would’ve made sure to cut off your manhood."

  "Dying like that? Nasty," Hessien shivered, then opened the top half of his meal box and nodded in awe at the food.

  It was just a huge roasted meat, similar to chicken, with a side of vegetables. Nothing special.

  I wasn’t angry about it. It was something I’d dreamed of since I was twelve.

  I remembered watching cartoons where characters devoured buckets of fried chicken, and I’d fantasize about it being me. Ah… the sweet, torturous memories.

  Yamanda just watched us, arms folded, shooting glances at the other meal in the package. I looked at her, and she quickly avoided eye contact.

  Sigh.

  "You can have it. It’s for you anyway," I said with a warm, perfectly innocent smile.

  Her face lit up. "Oh! I thought you were mad at me."

  Ashamed was a better word.

  I kept my smile as I said, "Ah, don’t be silly. That’s in the past. You're our teacher and trainer, so it makes sense to treat you well. You’ll surely treat us with a lot of care during the training."

  With that, I handed her the meal. She nodded and happily took it.

  But I didn’t let go of it immediately. "So… you will be treating us with a lot of care, right?"

  "Absolutely."

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  Good.

  I released my grip and grinned internally.

  Ah, damn, I was on a roll with my genius plans.

  Why are you so damn brilliant, Lumine?

  Oh, stop it! It’s just a bit of talent. Nothing much.

  Heheheh.

  Vacinay shot me a thumbs up. "Good work."

  Hessien nodded heavily, biting off a huge chunk of the meat, savoring every bite. "It tastes so good…"

  I agreed with him.

  I tore off a piece of meat and tasted pure divinity. The salt, the pepper, and every seasoning—surely, these were gifts passed down by some forgotten god."

  While chewing, I looked up at the heavens, hiding the tears of awe running down my face. So good… I would understand if Ghomas betrayed us for this. I’d be willing to annihilate a whole village just to eat this every day.

  Now, if someone heard me say that, they’d probably call me a hypocrite. Or maybe… what was the word? Shit, I couldn't remember, and frankly, I didn’t care. Besides, I was joking… kind of. Probably.

  It’s complicated!

  Suddenly, a white light erupted from Hessien’s mouth, and Tanya flew out. Like a small bird, she soared around before floating above him.

  She inhaled deeply, savoring the aroma, then shouted in a frenzy, “I WANT!”

  Eh… I’d assumed she didn’t need to eat.

  Hessien quickly shielded his meal. “What the hell? Aren’t you supposed to be a spirit? You don’t need to eat!”

  She shrugged, her gaze fixed on his food with the intensity of a predator. “Who said I need to? I said I want! Want!”

  With that, she lunged at the meat—the edible one (heh).

  They struggled, but she easily overpowered him, snatching the last third of the chicken.

  With a mischievous grin, she shoved the entire piece into her mouth… though that wasn’t the strangest part. The oddest thing was the fact that she’d somehow stretched her mouth to comically huge proportions just to fit it.

  As the chicken slid down her throat, Hessien lunged at her, pure murderous intent in his eyes.

  He managed to pin her to the ground. “Give it back!”

  She shook her head violently, unable to speak.

  Interesting.

  Consumed by rage, Hessien suddenly had an idea. He elbowed his stomach, causing sharp pain that made Tanya gasp.

  Hessien collapsed to the ground, gasping for air, and so did she, spitting up the meat she had eaten—now covered in her filthy blue saliva. Tears streamed down her face as she continued to spit.

  With fury in her eyes, she glared at Hessien, who grinned. “If I can’t have it, neither can you.”

  Her response? She bared her teeth, sharpening them into fangs, and bit into her own arm, white blood leaking from the wound.

  It looked like Chinese censorship.

  Hessien clenched his jaw, swallowing the scream that threatened to escape.

  Endure it, my boy.

  Meanwhile, Yamanda watched in shock.

  She suddenly pointed at Tanya with a strange coldness. “What’s going on? What is that thing doing here?”

  Right. To the civilians of this world, seeing Tanya must be like encountering a demon or witch. Yamanda was a knight, after all.

  I tried to explain, but Tanya’s arrogance cut me off. “Huh? A knight? How cute. And I’m not a ‘thing’… though my days of terror are long past. Your generation… Based on this city’s history, I’m sure I’ve made my mark in your books.”

  Wait, what?

  Yamanda nodded slowly. “Yes… So, why are you with these four like you’re friends?”

  Tanya smiled, patting Hessien’s head. He was swatting at her hand furiously, but he was too slow. “That boy? I’m bound to him. My bound partner. You know, existence binding and all that crap.”

  Yamanda lowered her gaze to Hessien.

  “Ah… Let me see if I can help with that.”

  Before I could process what she meant, she drew her sword, gemstones of various colors embedded in its handle. A white one glowed, and in an instant, she vanished.

  A sword sliced through the air, cleaving Tanya in two like butter.

  Tanya was the thing we used to keep the president at bay! And that teleportation… If Yamanda wanted, she could kill us all. Sure, there was no reason to do that right now, but who knew how things might change?

  Everyone scrambled to their feet in panic.

  Shit, shit, shit!

  I couldn’t even use time freeze. Even though she wasn’t targeting us, I had to stay on guard.

  “Wow, Miss Knight really needs a reality check.”

  Tanya, now split in two with each half glowing white, spoke as if nothing had happened.

  Yamanda was puzzled. “Wait, but… Why are you still alive? I cut you with the energy cutter runestone?”

  Tanya turned into pure white energy and reformed near Hessien. “Not quite. I split myself at the point you were going to slice. A genius, I am.” She tapped her chin, grinning.

  Yamanda pressed forward, slicing and dicing at Tanya, who split herself into sections to avoid the strikes.

  “What the hell?!” Yamanda snarled, frustration bubbling up as she continued her relentless assault.

  Hessien, drenched in sweat, scrambled to flee. “Get away from me! Stop trying to get me killed!”

  Tanya giggled, her voice light and mischievous. “But this is so much fun!”

  Yamanda’s eyes narrowed, her fury rising. “No, it isn’t, you wicked creature! I don’t know how you broke your seal, but I swear I’ll kill you for all the destruction and chaos you’ve caused!”

  Yamanda blurred into motion, her super speed combined with teleportation in a dizzying blur. She struck and vanished in an instant, trying to disorient Tanya. But when she leapt back, Tanya was suddenly right in front of her.

  I didn't think of Yamanda teleporting others in a fight.

  Tanya clicked her tongue, unfazed. “Oh, please. So what if I killed a few humans? Who cares? You humans killed plenty of my kind. I was just returning the favor.”

  With a casual stretch, Tanya reached out for Yamanda, but Yamanda teleported her away in a panic.

  Tanya shook her head, frustrated. “Ugh… Oi, Hessien, can I kill her?”

  “Kill me?!” Yamanda roared, her fury now mixed with disbelief.

  Hessien, sweating bullets, looked back and forth between them, dread settling deep in his chest. Yamanda had only shown two of her skills, but there was a sense she was about to unleash something far worse.

  Ignoring Tanya’s question, Hessien turned to Yamanda. “If you kill her, I’ll die too.”

  Yamanda grinned wickedly. “I know! That’s why I’m using this runestone. It’ll only affect her.”

  Hessien’s face drained of color in an instant, but then a light flickered in his eyes. “Oh. Then please, kill her.” He saluted with a nervous grin.

  Tanya floated around Hessien, her laughter filling the air. It wasn’t malicious—more like a child’s delight, pure and carefree.

  Then, without warning, she clapped her hands together, and a white barrier shimmered into existence, disappearing as quickly as it came.

  What the hell did she just do…?

  Tanya landed gracefully beside Hessien, placing a hand on his shoulder with an almost affectionate gesture before addressing Yamanda. “I wouldn’t teleport in here if I were you. With all the chaotic energy swirling around, it might mess with your skills. You might end up with your head where your ass is, and vice versa.”