This chapter turned waaaaay different than I intended it to be. HAHAHHA...I'm back. I managed to squeeze some time to write this. THERE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE BLOOD HERE AND FIRE. But my brain said no, that's next chapter.

Recap: Alec gets invited to the Temple with the triplets. Gael prepares enthusiastically for the trip. However, there's still school days ahead before they leave for the weekend.

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Alec stood in front of the largest tree of the Draeyer Academy, right inside Stardust Forest. Gael had decided to conduct a second hunting assignment for the students before the weekend. This time, however, he was not their target. His older brother, who was slowly turning into a nutcase as they prepared for their trip, decided that it was a good idea to involve some guards who protected his mansion in Serene City.

He had to put up with their curious staring and the whispers of his "reputation" as Slayer coming out of their mouths. As expected with people who had not seen him in action, they had doubts about his abilities. But Alec never made any effort to prove his worth...unless, of course, people crossed some of his lines.

His gaze went to the students gathered in groups of five, discussing their targets and hunting plans. Gael's men had already disappeared into Stardust Forest to hide themselves. The "hunting game" this time involved gathering points. Among the ten men in the forest, each was worth some points, with one being the lowest and 10 as the highest. The team that gathered the most points would win and would be exempted from group tasks for the following week.

Alec's role in all of this was to enter the forest and respond to emergencies if they occurred. Gael was going to do the same but on a different side of the forest. The triplet draelings were with him, their small size making it easy for them to fit in a small pack slung over his back. All three had fallen asleep, with Midnight and Glacia having been forced by an angry Cerulian when the two moved around too much in the pack.

As Alec watched the students, his eyes gravitated to where Knox was. Next to him were Areisha Roselintine, Reinand Versulies, and River Uphelian. Alongside them were two other students. Being a group with combat-inclined Sentires, Gael had different grading criteria for them. Out of the 7 groups, they looked a lot more serious than most.

As he looked, bright blue eyes similar in shade to Cerulian, met his gaze. The owner of that gaze raised one of her reddish-brown brows. Her face showed signs of wariness before it relaxed, but was quickly masked with annoyance. It was good to see that she wasn't as scared of him as she was before.

Areisha Roselintine had an incredible sense of perception, almost comparable to his own. To Alec, it felt like the girl had lived her life with her guard always up. He had never seen her relax her stance even once in the nearly one month he had seen her. But based on the information he heard from Gael, their first meeting, and the kidnapping a while ago, she had no choice but to be.

Alec knew more than most people how exhausting it was to live like that.

But her business was her business. She may be his student, but he just cannot butt into her life.

He looked away from her gaze and sighed.

In truth, he was annoyed about this hunting game. Gael was being so fussy about the trip to the Temple in Cetrulis Skyland and he was running him ragged. From the clothes they packed, which mansion of his should they stay in, their itinerary tour after the Temple visit, and the Temple etiquette. He was even taught how to deal with particularly fanatic priests. They will be only there for a few days. He was nearly exhausted enough to want to cancel and allow Gael to mess with the Temple like he wanted to do.

He looked up at the midafternoon sun.

"On the bright side, I get to stay in the forest today," he muttered. He had been familiarizing himself with the forest areas in this climate and he was learning a lot and even managed to apply some things that he never got to test out in the icy forests of Arktis. He was considering taking hunting requests for Moonglow Forest, the one on the other side of the Skyland. It was far more untamed than Stardust.

He was really curious about some of the beasts there.

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Two hours later, Alec sat on a thick branch as he looked down at a group of students finally cornering their target. He watched as they apprehended him by swarming all together. Alec hummed, contemplating the feedback he would have to give them. While the swarm tactic was useful, it would be best if they left some manpower behind in case an all-out attack fails and they become too exhausted.

He paused in his contemplation when a floating cube hovered next to his shoulder. It was a surveillance device that Gael used to monitor the students during wide-area activities, especially in the forest. Alec was going to get his own too, but it would be a while because of the stringent safety protocols for owning such a device.

"Are we almost finished?" he asked Gael.

Gael's voice came through the small cube. "Almost. Just waiting for the Sentire group to hunt down Ten-points." The special goal for the Sentires was to capture a target worth ten points.

"I'm sure Ten-points has a name."

"Not right now. Some words I did not like came out of his mouth, so he is Ten-points until I forgive him."

Gael was so petty for someone his age.

"The Sentires are on my side of the forest, right? I'll head over to them." He dropped down from the tree branch, startling the students with his sudden appearance. With a simple "good job" and "I'll give my feedback later," Alec turned around and left them.

The surveillance cube hovered close to him, and Gael began to lead him in the direction of the Sentires. They were close to the small group of hills that separated Stardust Forest from Moonglow Forest.

The cube next to him stopped and Gael's worried voice sounded out. "I think you need to get there. They accomplished their task, but three of them already went ahead to the infirmary," he said. "Oh and...look after Areisha. I'll be there as soon as possible."

Alec sped up. It wasn't difficult for him to find them so he spotted them 15 minutes later. However, he raised a brow when he saw the scene before him.

A ragged-looking Areisha sat on a rock, cradling her obviously injured right wrist. A similarly ragged-looking Knox hovered giving her what looked like a stern scolding using the big-brother voice he used on Solana. All the while he looked concerned. River and the two other students in their group were nowhere to be seen.

His eyes moved down to find Ten-points—Vice-Captain Ragu of the guards in Gael's Serene City mansion—lying on the ground. He looked the worst out of all three of them. The man, who was slightly larger than Alec, was alive but covered in bruises. Seeing that Knox wasn't all that concerned for the man, his injuries weren't threatening.

From the scolding he could hear from Knox, Areisha seemed to have gone overboard.

Alec had been observing the students for a while now. Areisha was easily the most skilled in combat among them. He even heard of her putting some bullies in their place—although doing it in such a way that made her look like a bitch. But he knew that she was not the type to go overboard.

His eyes narrowed on Emera who had refused to leave her Draeyer's side even though she saw him. Alec eventually remembered the secrets Emera shared. Combined with Gael's concerned voice earlier, he could take a guess at what happened.

Looks like Knox does not know.

"Munstone," he called. Knox turned to him. "Take Ten—I mean, Mr. Ragu to the infirmary."

Knox looked like he was about to ask about what to do with Areisha, but Alec shook his head. At the gesture, Knox backed away. Alec helped Knox put Mr. Ragu over his shoulder to make it easier for him to carry him back.

The moment River left his sight, he felt the triplets squirming in their pack. Soon enough, all three of them climbed over his back. Midnight and Cerulian settled over his shoulders, while Glacia settled herself on his head.

The entire time, Areisha was only looking at her injured wrist while Emera grew gloomier.

Alec was about to move closer to her before he decided to just plop himself on the ground six feet away. That got a reaction from Areisha. She looked towards him, eyes widening for a moment before she sat straighter.

The slowly crumbling wall was put back up like nothing happened.

Alec refused to be fooled.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Waiting for you to calm down."

"I'm calm."

Alec wanted to scoff but held himself back. "Try to tell Professor Gael that, Roselintine."

Areisha clicked her tongue. She was about to retort but quickly closed her mouth. The triplets had left Alec and slowly crept towards her. From the Bond, he could feel their curiosity and a...bit of concern.

Alec was a bit surprised and confused. The triplets had never approached anyone first before. Nevertheless, he kept still and watched as the draelings moved closer to Areisha.

Midnight gave a tiny roar towards Emera. The older green draeling seemed to contemplate for a bit before giving a small chirp. From the Bond, Alec felt the three get a bit excited before they quickly arrived at Areisha's feet.

Glacia was the first to move and unceremoniously dumped herself on a stunned Areisha's lap. Cerulian squeezed himself next to Glacia and as always went back to sleep. Alec was getting a bit concerned about that but Professor Linan said it was normal for some draes. Midnight, on the other hand, sat on the stone right next to Areisha. He had a protective gaze at his siblings as always.

Alec let out a quiet laugh, but Areisha still heard him.

"What's going on?" she asked. She was stiff like she was afraid any movement would jostle the two sleeping draes awake.

"Helping you calm down," was all he said. "Mr. Ragu will be fine. You can apologize later...if you want."

Areisha bit her lip, stopping whatever retort she had. She already knew that her lie about being calm had been seen through. All because of draelings.

"You know," Alec began. "Other than me, you're the only person the triplets have approached willingly. They like you."

Areisha scoffed. "Why would they?"

"Why wouldn't they?"

The brunette fell silent at his retort before she looked down at her injured wrist again. "You don't know me."

"I learned pretty early that people tend to hide their real selves behind a mask. To survive, I taught myself to discern what's real and what's not," Alec said. "Besides, if you're trying to be 'The Bitch', then you're still a long way off from someone I know."

Areisha slowly reached out and ran a hand over the sleeping draelings on her lap. They leaned into her touch and even purred. From the Bond, he felt Midnight become envious before the little one gave up and placed his small head on Areisha's thigh. A little giggle escaped her lips at Midnight's resigned look. Emera, watching the three fondly with her pink eyes, slowly fell asleep on Areisha's shoulder.

"What about you?" she asked.

"Me?"

"Your mask."

Alec felt his lips rise into a savage grin, exposing a bit of the small fangs he always tried to hide. "My mask has made people quake in their boots while some ran for the pits of Blazen."

Instead of being intimidated, Areisha pursed her lips and got a contemplative look in her eyes. A second later, a small chuckle tried to make it past her lips before she reigned it in. Her face indicated amusement as she looked at them.

"So the real you is the guy who blushes at smutty romance—"

"Hey!"

Areisha couldn't stop herself and actually laughed. He glared at her, letting her know of his displeasure. It had no effect whatsoever.

However, Alec gave up quickly enough. Her acting like this was better than feeling guilty for having her trauma triggered and hurting an innocent man. It had happened to Alec a few times too when he was younger. His guilt had led to estrangement from the hunters he once respected as a child.

Sometimes, Alec wished Emera did not spill so much of her Draeyer's secrets.

A memory of Alen popped up all of a sudden.

My little brother has such a soft little heart. I'm happy and worried at the same time.

When he was a child, he was confused about those words. But as he grew older, he gradually realized why his brother had felt that way.

"What's taking Gael so long?" he muttered. This...emotional stuff is more up his alley than mine.

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Honestly, I was supposed to write the snake scene, but noooooo...my brain said don't ruin this.