—

“Mhm…very handsome.”

Raven nodded repeatedly while chuckling, nothing much was needed to be said between them. They arrived and saved him, that’s what matters.

“Shit, I’m stained by blood now. Ew, it stinks!”

Paul groaned in dissatisfaction. Because he was the one dealt the finishing blow on the ant, he was also the one who was on direct contact when the head of the ant exploded in pieces, of course he would be stained with blood. In fact, it was actually a miracle that he didn’t bathe in it.

“Man, that was stressful. I mean, now that I thought about it, you probably didn’t need our help but still. Witnessing the danger of losing someone close to you is really terrifying.”

Mark commented as the scene earlier replayed on his head. The thought the he might witnessing Raven’s death feels like someone was gripping his heart so tight that it will explode. He can’t even imagine what would it feel like it Raven truly died before him, he also don’t know how he would react.

“You know what, he’s right! You actually don’t even need our help at all! Why did you just stand there? I feel cheated!”

Paul whined as he realized it. Who was the reason the reason why he was enduring harsh training each day? Wasn’t it him, Raven? It also just dawned on him that Raven had been doing some insane shit most of the times, and dealing with an oversized ant won’t even reach the levels of the stuff he had done before.

“Oh come on, I told you didn’t I? We’re here for training. Look! You even learned the ‘Warlord’s Challenge’ and performed the ‘Skyfall’ beautifully. Mark on the other hand learned the ‘Warping Shadow’ and activated the ‘Predator’s Gaze’. Not bad for your first kill right?”

Raven’s words cause them to pause for a bit. What he said was true, they were able to perform the techniques that they haven’t even trained before. What’s crazy is that they weren’t even thinking nor wishing to perform them, it just naturally occured because of the dire situation they are in.

“Now that you say that, it’s true. I remember reading up on those moves before but can’t train it since it requires my cultivation to be a little bit stronger. It’a miracle that I was able to perform not just one, but two of them. Same goes for Pa-I mean Andy. How did that happen?” Mark asked.

“To sum it up in one word, I’d say Desperation. It is the extreme desire to do something and disregarding everything for that one purpose. It digs up the deep potential on your body in order for you to do just that.”

Raven’s explanation enlightened the two. Recalling the situation earlier, it was true that they had just one thought in their minds and that was: ‘Save him.’

The entire process on how they were able to do so is quite mysterious. In under normal circumstances, this thing would never happen, cultivation isn’t just sitting all day after all. It requires training to polish discipline and determination, and that’s what keeps everyone going.

“Isn’t this awesome then? There’s now more to our arsenal of moves! We could battle some more to polish it!” Paul became excited on the prospect of performing new moves. This was specially true when he performed the ‘Skyfall’ earlier, that feeling was awesome and he truly wanted to do that again.

“Well, I wouldn’t put it that way.”

As soon as Raven said this, Paul and Mark fell into the ground simultaneously. They were surprised as to what happened and tried to stand up again but they felt their arms and knees go weak. Even their legs are trembling a bit. They then started to heave mouthfuls of air and they visions are somewhat growing blurry.

“W-what’s going on.” Paul was confused, he felt his throat was dry and his voice hoarse. He noticed that he can’t even hold his spear properly.

“Are you guys okay?” The girls arrived and was shocked by the current development. It took them a while to gather the courage to regroup with them.

“They’re fine, that’s just the adrenaline wearing off. I’ll take our harvest and we will take a good rest before continuing. Help them up will you?” After saying this, Raven walked towards the carcass of the ant and started harvesting it’s meat.

Ellen bit her lips and helped Paul up, she picked up one of his arms and pulled it up, but the force she used isn’t quite enough to completely pull him up. This caused both of them to fall over, Ellen landed on top of Paul, making an image like she was pinning him on the ground.

“He said help me up, not to take advantage of me.” Paul jokingly said which caused the corners of Ellen’s mouth to twitch. Out of nowhere, she aim the edge of her sword on his groin and she said in a chilling voice.

“Why don’t you place your heavy ass spear and shield away so that I can truly help you up? How about that huh?”

Paul felt his entire body shiver in fear along with cold sweat drenching his back. He then replied: “Y-you’re a genius! I-I will do just that….mercy please.”

It was Anne who helped Mark up. Unlike Paul, Mark didn’t even have the energy to joke around since his exhaustion was quite serious this time, he did her a favor and already placed his weapons back on his spatial ring. He only showed a smile and meekly said: “Thanks. I’ll be in your care for a while. Do tell me if I’m heavy.”

“No worries here. I got you.” Anne showed a sweet smile and allowed him to rely his whole weight on her shoulders.

Mark was a bit mesmerized by that smile and couldn’t help to to stare at it for a while, a faint blush could be seen in his cheeks yet he blamed it on his exhaustion instead and coughed a bit, making the situation a bit awkward for the both of them.

During the time that they trained together, this was the first time that these four had been this close, body contact wise. They did often spar against each other or against Raven and the farthest thing that they’ve done was to held each other’s hand when they help each other up.

Meanwhile, as soon as Raven started harvesting the meat off from the ant, he was surprised to see that Luna followed him while holding a sharp dagger on her hands.

“What’s wrong?” Sensing that she was down, Raven asked her this question.

“I just feel useless.” Luna sighed in defeat. She then followed Raven’s actions and used her dagger to harvest the meat. “I mean, after all of that harsh training that we did, to not even be able to raise my weapons against the real thing is quite…disheartening.”

“I see.” He replied. “You know what? That scenario and that feeling is actually a very common sight to every battlefield that there is.”

Luna didn’t say anything, his words weren’t particularly comforting after all. She just continued to help him harvest. She bit her lip in frustration.

‘You truly are such a princess Luna. Letting other people shield you away from danger, realizing that these people would die before you yet you can’t do anything. You saw one of your friends nearly died in front of you yet you were frozen by fear, completely useless. If this happens one time, then how could not there be a second time!? Why don’t you just lock yourself up in the palace to avoid being a bother for other people!?’

“Don’t be too hard on yourself.” Luna turned around as she heard him say this.

Just like before, he was wearing this serene smile in his face. It was like nothing could bring him down. Luna observed that he had always been like this since they met. No matter how difficult the situation gets, he will show a smile in front of them that serves like a brilliant beacon saying ‘Everything will be okay.’

But Luna knows that it is difficult for him as well. After all, she was the one who saw another side of him, that side was the one she saw when Raven was sick. It’s somewhat hard to tell if he’s faking it or not, but she knew that he’s human too.

“There’ll be chances later. I know it’s scary but you guys will be fine. Just remember your training, that’s all.”

Raven added, this didn’t really comfort Luna and instead made her feel even more guilt. But she knew that what he said was right. There will be next time, she repeatedly told to herself that she didn’t endure that harsh training to just be some woman to be protected. She has a duty to her kingdom and that’s something that she has to fulfill.

After a couple of minutes, the two finished everything that there is to be harvested on the ant.. They went towards the team and asked Jonas, the recruit, to help them find somewhere to rest.