Chapter 54: Chapter 54: An unpleasant surprise
Dialogue "sample"
Thoughts 'Sample'
Techniques [sample]
Author notes -sample-
Chapter 54
An unpleasant surprise
Iris woke up as the sun was starting to shine through the entrance of the cave, slightly illuminating the place where the group was staying.
"W-what….where am I?" Iris looked confused.
"Iris!, you are awake." Iria rushed to her side to check on her. "Are you okay? does anything hurt?"
"Huh?, I fine, why would…ah…" Iris then remembered the fight from the day before. "That's right, we were attacked by that silver tiger…I'm sure that it hurt me badly." She examined herself but could not find anything wrong.
"You won't find a single scratch on your body, My Lady. The healing potion we gave you was of the highest quality." The voice of Edward came from a corner of the cave.
Iris then realized that she was not alone with Iria and got her guard up. "Aston!, what are you doing here." Iris covered herself with the robes that Iria had placed over her.
"Please, there is no need to cover yourself. We are all gentlemen here, and with the dim lighting that we have here, it's impossible to distinguish anything. Insnt that right, Sieg?"
Iris turned her eyes to the new approaching figure. "Lancaster."
"Iris, don't be rude!." Iria admonished her. "If it wasn't for them, we will definitely be dead by now!"
"You mean?..." Iris looked at Siegfried, who had just taken a seat close to them. "You defeated that beast?"
"Should I feel offended that you immediately assumed that it was Siegfried the one who fought the silver tiger?" Edward complained.
"I did fight that beast, but did not defeat it," Siegfried said with some bitterness in his voice. He did not like the fact that they had to use some underhanded tactic to drive it away.
"You did not defeat it? then how are we all alive?" Asked Iris.
"Well, as it turns out, that Silver tiger had become a Winged Silver tiger, a rank 1 beast. So I was forced to use my one and only beast-repelant pearl to drive it away." Explained Edward.
Iris's complexion became paler. "A rank 1 beast…how did the Professors let something like that pass?"
"It was just a peak unranked beast when you and I fought against it, but during my fight, it ended up finishing its breakthrough and became a ranked beast. Is not the professor's fault. It was just a matter of bad luck." Said Siegfried.
"Terrible luck…" Added Edward.
"So, what do we do now? I think we should stick together….just in case" Said Iria with hesitation.
"Arent we suppose to be competing for tainted cores? Although personally, I don't care about the rewards, Sieg here is a bit interested in the mana ring." Asked Edward.
Iris looked at Iria and this one nodded in agreement. "We managed to get five cores before encountering that tiger. Lancaster can keep them, and whatever we hunt from now. You saved my life and a Castel always repays a debt."
"I'm feeling excluded…I am the one who purchased that repelling pearl…" Edward pouted.
"Having money is not an accomplishment, Aston." Rebuked Iris.
"That's fine and all, but can you at least call me Edward?"
"No!"
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They had initially planned to take it a bit easier during the second day so they recover further and go all out on the last day. Their physical wounds are all healed but the mental stress of such a battle takes more time.
However, something strange was happening.
"I know that the idea was to take it easy but…this is a bit much" Commented Edward.
"We have not found a single beast in all day and it's starting to get dark already." Said Iria.
"There is something strange…is like the beasts are avoiding us. Could this have something to do with that beast repellent that you uses yesterday?" Suggested Iris.
Edward quickly shut down the idea. "Not a chance. Even the best beast repellent only lasts for a couple of hours at most. It's been almost an entire day already since we use it."
"Is not that…" Siegfried looked around. He has been having a bad feeling for a while now. He is unable to detect anything out of order, but his instincts which he has honed over many decades of fighting were telling him that he was in danger.
"I think there may be someone following us."
"Someone is following us? Could it be some other students, wanting to steal our tainted cores?" Asked Edward.
"No, there is no chance that a student is able to avoid my detection…this is someone very well trained." Said Siegfried.
"You can detect people's auras? that's amazing. That is a very difficult skill to learn!" Complimented Iria, even if this wasn't the best time for it.
"If you can't detect anyone, why do you think that we are being followed?" Asked Iris.
"I'm afraid I have no evidence of my claims. But my instincts are telling me that-"
"Wait!" Interrupted Edward. "I think we just walked into the same clearing from yesterday."
"You are right! this is where we were attacked by that beast." Added Iria.
"We have been walking aimlessly all day, looking for some beast to hunt…I don't like this place…there is a sinister aura around it." Said Iris.
"Oh…" Siegfried noticed the aura too and realized something. "I made a mistake…It wasn't just one person following us! And we just walked into the worst possible place for an ambush"
"Wind slash!" They heard a female voice call.
"Move!" Siegfried shouted.
They all jumped away as a blade of wind cut through the area they were just in, leaving a massive gash on the grassy field.
"That technique!" Iris's eyes opened wide in recognition at the move that was just used.
"Too bad. We were hoping to get one of two with that move." A shadowy figure appeared in the clearing and two others followed him.
The three figures were wearing black robes with hoods that covered their faces in an unnatural darkness.
"Assasins!" Siegfried warned.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone