"Someone is tailing us. Just pretend to be innocent. I'll just shout before you act," Amishta whispered to her group. They were stunned and felt there was no one else, but since they chose her to lead, they just agreed silently. They become more alert and observant.
"Well, my niece already noticed our existence, so no need to hide," Hiro proudly stated, but deep inside him was a blatant question of how Amishta could sense their presence. He knows that it was not him that was discovered but his team. Still, he trained them and knew how skillful they are; only those who are trained enough will probably sense them.
Hiro's team shivered. If they were discovered, then probably they will not be dealing with an amateur but a master. Still, they respected Amishta before because she was the niece of the general, but now they just respect her because of her skill. Hiro becomes more interested in her niece; his father really has a good sight.
Hiro signed his team to attack. They will just beat them without a sword because death will probably be waiting for Amishta's team if they use a sword. Hiro just wants to observe. He knew that his niece was probably having a hint of his presence because her niece seemed to look back in his direction.
"Fight!" Amishta shouted and fought with the man in black in front of them. They don't use any weapons but just constantly hit them and disarm them. Almost everyone in the group was bleeding. They have cuts all over their body.
"What do you need?" Amishta shouted while fighting. She was also wounded, but because of her speed, she doesn't end up like her group. The only thing that she lacked was her stamina and strength, though it has been upgraded, but she was exhausted for the past days, and right now they are fighting with masters, so how can she handle it?
The man in black seems to not hear anything and continues to beat her teammates. She felt like they are a modern gangster who beats someone weaker than them. As long as Hiro doesn't give them a signal to stop, they won't do it. They have always been submissive to their master and they also don't show their emotions.
"Arghhh! Damn!" Everyone shouted from pain. They were just a recruit and even if some have their foundation, they were still an amateur. Their confidence was obviously gone after the fight but they just persist because it was their defense for the danger around them. They don't want to die.
Hiro was already having his team just let them go, but Amishta suddenly changed her aura. It was quite overwhelming and powerful; even Hiro has a change of expression for a bit. Hiro wanted to observe more, thus kept quiet.
Amishta was literally the only one standing in her group because everyone else was beaten worse. Amishta, with her strength, gave everything and concentrated on fighting everyone. She persisted and knocked some of them down in one or two swift blows. She knew she could fight them, but her body couldn't. She was almost half of the enemy, but she collapsed.
Hiro nearly revealed himself. He will not forgive himself if something happens to her. The men in black gulped when they saw their master's niece collapse. They secretly looked at Hiro and pleaded silently. It is for sure their fault. She was still young, and she was still growing up. They mentally scolded themselves.
The change of her aura just a while back excites them into fighting, so they use half of their strength, and their master forbids them to use 100%, so the fact that some were knocked out by Amishta with their half strength means they already mentally see her as a good fighter, thus giving her a good fight.
Hiro signaled them to leave. Since he saw that she was being held by her group. He was immediately angered, but he just confirmed that the place is safe and made his team guide them and leave because he might do something stupid. His niece is surely not weak.
Jose hardly got up and tried to wake up Amishta. They all witnessed Amishta fight, and they were more than amazed. They sincerely care for Amishta; thus, everyone is looking at her worried. Though they were all beaten, it was just enough for them not to fight again, but their consciousness is still there. Their body is in pain, but since they watched Amishta fight, they seem to be alive again.
Since Amishta knocked some of those men out, whom they can't then there is no reason for them to lie down. They were just totally blown away by everything that happened. Zion got up and sprinkled water to try to wake Amishta. She regains her consciousness, but her body is exhausted.
Xian shyly gives drinking water to Amishta. They just signaled him to help Amishta drink it. Xian clumsily helps Amishta. She just looked at him with gratitude. She can't speak yet as she tries to gather her strength. Almost everyone surrounded her except Fred. He has gained the most beating.
Zion noticed it and helped Fred. He helped him put medicine into his body and also made him drink water. Everyone becomes busy with the team's wounds, cuts, and bruises. They helped each other in bandaging without speaking. They are somewhat attached to each other after the incident.
"We only have an hour left before going to the mountain top. We need to search for our flag. It shall be our priority. Since half of our team can still move, then go find the flag. Just leave Fred and me here. Come back after an hour. Zion will take the lead. If you encounter danger, then come back immediately," Amishta commanded.
"We can't leave both of you here. You are both weak, and you can't fight if ever you are in danger. Since we are a team---"
"No! I am your leader. I command you to find the flag. We are both weak, but I can still fight. I just need some rest," Amishta stated.
"But---"
"I can stay. I will look for them," Jose suggested. Amishta nodded because if she didn't, it would just consume time. Amishta knew that their team had already bonded and everyone seemed to care for each other.
"Fine. We will carefully search for an hour and safely come back. Leader, take a rest. Fred, you too." Zion saluted and took the team to search. Amishta sighed in relief. She was too weak and felt very frustrated. It was her first lead, but she actually endangered her group.
"Amishta you didn't do something wrong." Jose tried to comfort her but it went the other way around. She was not comforted but felt she was totally wrong. She smiled bitterly and looked over at Fred. He was obviously in pain but he pretended to say nothing. He just nodded and took a rest.
Zion and the team look for the flag for an hour, but they can't find anything. On their way they bumped into Amishta. Jose was helping Xian while walking. They are all exhausted, and they didn't even eat anything, but they can't just complain. Amishta just led the way to the mountain top.
Amishta knew that her team was exhausted, but they can't just be late for the time their leader asked, or else they will be a burden. Since they still had a little strength, they just used it to walk, and then Amishta was thinking of hunting their food after they had arrived at the mountaintop.
They all dropped on the ground when they arrived. They also encounter some of the other teams, but they just don't want any trouble, so they just mind their business. They were out of breath but still very happy because they saw their teammates; obviously, they were the ones who were totally beaten.
"What happened to every one of you?" Dew asked. Their teammates also looked curious at their state.
"We encountered an enemy," Amishta respectfully stated. They just agreed to her.
"Then, take a rest. We already have found the flag, so we can already go down to the finish line. But let us just rest for an hour," Dew commanded, and everyone agreed. Amishta looked at her team and was quite happy because they unconsciously circled themselves while resting.
Amishta, get up and look for food. Her team looked at her, so she just said that she just wanted to walk alone, and then they hesitantly agreed. She helplessly smiles. She carefully looked at her surroundings and caught two hares and gladly came back to her team. They glared at her.
"I got us food. Come on. Don't look at me like that." Amishta scratched her head and asked Jose to make a fire. Amishta knew that their glare was because she lied, and obviously they were grateful to her. Since the hares are big, then they can all share it. It is barely enough, but it was totally fine as to just let them fill their stomachs.
"Right. Since we didn't have a meal, everyone is free to find their own food. You can hunt," Dew stated as soon as he saw the envious look of his members towards Amishta's team. He already knew that something bad happened to them, but they are more harmonious than before.
"Leader, how about we have a share with that hare? Since we are a group, then shouldn't---" Urno pointed at Amishta's hunted hare as he spoke, but he was disrupted by the newly arrived Marco.
"Shameless!"