CURSE BOUND

"I was bested it seems" davil says as he leaps from a tree to the ground where metrelar and the two girls are

"Well for now we just have to find a way to get these two to forfeit" davil says before walking over to Marcia who was restrained after trying to escape

"They are certainly rowdy, and this Helga one refuses to quit, I've downed her attempts a total of 5 times since you had left" metrelar says as Helga stands once more

"Please this is pitiful, the strong do grow tired of beating the weak" metrelar says before ruffling his hair

"Listen, if you quit now you will most certainly be ranked in the top twenty which is by itself a great task, so if you would please just forfeit" metrelar says trying to reason

"No, that just isn't enough" Helga says before spitting a loose tooth onto the ground

"And beside you can't have thought you had already won" Helga says as Marcia begins to chant something under her breath

"No !" Davil says before grabbing Marcia's throat

"Too sluggish" davil says in triumph as Marcia weakly smirks

"Hmm" metrelar grunts while looking over at Marcia and davil, but is caught of gaurd once he realizes Helga chanting a spell

"A diversion !"metrelar thinks while trying to grab Helga but falls to the ground in pain as dark amber chains start to wrap around him

"Binding magic ?" Davil thinks while looking over at his brother making sure not to loosen his grip on Marcia's throat

"Now Marcia !" Helga screams while running away

"Is she abandoning her" davil thinks

"If I go to help my brother this girl will escape but if I don't help him we'll lose the other one, and what was that supposed to mean"davil ponders before his arm is engulfed in flame

"Agh" davil groans before falling to the ground, quickly outing the flames but before he can regain his hold Marcia had already escaped

"She escaped" davil says before running to free his brother who is rolling in pain

"Disperse !" Davil chants as the chains shatter

"What now" davil asks metrelar

"There is no hope in finding those two, Im sure you have noticed there choice of footing" metrelar says as he stands while running his neck

"They made sure to only tread on grass and stones to essentially erase there trace" metrelar says

"I noticed, even before the second stage of the placing event, they have trained for moments excatly like this" davil says

"They made plans for all the teams they thought they couldn't beat or would have trouble with, but that is just guess" metrelar says before walking off

"Let us continue to the village" metrelar says as davil follows

"Have you failed to beat that boy again !" A man yells before slapping a young girl

"Im sorry father …" the girl says before bowing to the man

"Listen you worthless seed, the only reason you are not on the streets is simply due to the reputation you bring this house" the man says as he lifts his hand to slap the girl again

"Honey, damaging her will only lesson her performance and as such her value, rather a new training schedule should help" a woman says as the girl tenses her shoulder Im anxiety

"True, but make sure her performance next year is nothing short of perfect" the man says before lowering his hand

"Your younger brother has managed to place at the top of his class yet again, my standards for you are nothing short of him so be prepared for an adequate punishment if you are unable to bring home gold next year" the man says as a door is opened behind him

"Speaking of" the man says joyfully before lifting the boy into the air

"Oh Mathew what has awoken you at this time of night" the woman says while slowly covering the bruised cheek of the girl

"What happened to sisters cheek" a significantly younger Mathew asks while looking at his sister

"Oh Kara here had fell down the stairs" the woman says while smiling

"Really?" The boy says while looking at his sister who refuses to look at him

"Back to sleep for you now"the man says before escorting Benjamin to his room

"Now as for you" the woman says before grabbing the girls ear while pulling her into a room, the sharp nail garments she is wearing peircing the girls ear

"Ow !" the girl exclaims before grabbing the woman's hand

"Hey wake up"

The voice echoed inside my head, it sound familiar, calming like my sister's voice

"Wake up !"

"Huh whats wrong" Mathew says confused

"It seems you dozed off while on your watching duty" Lelovia says annoyed

"I see, i'm sorry" Mathew says his head hanging down

"It's fine, you should go and rest now" Lelovia says

Mathew gets up and walks back into the cave and lays down on a flat area

"I must says the ground is quite uncomfortable" Lelovia says sarcastically

A few minutes into Lelovia's watch duty, she senses four figures approaching

"Mhm, they dont seem to be beasts, well i'd better not give them a chance to sneak attack us" Lelovia thinks as she aims her wand in the direction of the four assaliants chanting

"Tactile waves, Fluid rigidity"

[Water Bullet]

"I'll focus it into a small point for speed and accuracy" Lelovia thinks as the bullet of water races at one of the assaliants

It makes contact as blood splashes into the air a scream is heard

"Am glad we escaped those two" Benjamin says relieved

"Damn right, Davil could have easily wiped out all of us" says Derrick

"But we made it out thanks to aurora" says Heliop

"Your quite tactical arent you Aurora" says Derrick

"I made that plan on a whim, I didnt think we were going to escape"

"good job I guess" says Benjamin

"Thanks" Aurora says as she smiles

They continue through the forest searching for food whilst looking for a cave

Half an hour later

"I see a cave" says Benjamin

"Oh thank the gods I can finally rest" Derrick says as he lazily follows Benjamin and the others

"I sense Lelovia" says Aurora

"Then lets hurry we need to get healed" Benjamin says as he rushes off

"Hey Benjamin wait, she might think your an enemy" shouts Aurora

"Huh?" Benjamin says as he turns around confused

A bullet of water pierces Benjamin's hand, flying straight through it causing blood to splatter onto his face and into the air

"Ahhh!" Benjamin screams as he crouches grasping his hand in pain, blood pouring from it like a fountain

"Yes I hit it" Lelovia thinks as she realizes that the sound of the scream it familiar

"Benjamin ?" But before Lelovia can continue Derrick rushes at her with his dagger but, is blocked by Mathew

"Stop !" Aurora shouts as everybody pauses

"Derrick yield" Aurora says as Derrick lowers his weapon followed by Mathew

"Benjamin !" Mathew shouts as he rushes past Derrick toward Benjamin

"Are you okay" says Mathew

"Of course, this is but a flesh wound" Benjamjn says jokingly

"You have a hole in your hand you big oath" Mathew says concerned

"Lelovia come heal him, please" shouts Mathew

"Right" says Lelovia

Lelovia rushes toward the injured Benjamin chanting

"Specter of growth, Progession of strength"

[Heal]

A bright golden glow shines as Benjamin's wounded hand begins to slowly repair itself

"This will take a while but i'll increase my mana output so it can heal faster" says Lelovia

"Isnt that dangerous" says Mathew

"It is but this is my fault so it doesnt matter" says Lelovia

"Alright just be careful" says Mathew

"I will" Lelovia says as she smiles

"Aurora why are both Derrick and Heliop with you" says Mathew

"For now we are allies" says Aurora

"And why is that" says Mathew

"Because when the next apex is sent here one or even two teams wont be enough to beat it" says Aurora

"I see" Mathew says as he puts his hand to his chin

"Do you trust them" says Mathew

"For now" says Aurora

"Alright then, they seem to be in terrible condition so i'll ask Lelovia to heal them" says Mathew as Aurora nods her head in agreement

"Hey you two, head in the cave with Aurora, we'll explain things soon" says Mathew

"Sure, lets go Derrick" says Heliop as he heads to the cave followed by Derrick

"How is Benjamin doing" asks Mathew

"He's bleeding alo- " Lelovia is cut off by Benjamin

"Im fine, you dont need to worry about me" Benjamin says pridefully

"I didnt finish talking" Lelovia says as she hits Benjamin on his head

"Well Im glad to see you and Aurora are alive" Mathew says as he smiles

"Yeah you too" says Benjamin

"I'm done healing him" Lelovia says as Benjamin's bones, veins and tendons in his hand fully heal and the skin closes up the open wound

"Thank you Lelovia, my hand feels much better" says Benjamin

"You're welcome" Lelovia says smiling

"Alright we need to converse with our new allies on what we are going to do next" says Mathew

"But before that, Lelovia I need you to heal them" says Mathew

"Okay I will" says Lelovia

"Alright lets go" says Mathew

Plans have changed