"You actually want to bully my sister! You have guts!" Marco shouted and pointed his fingers at Urno.
"You! She is but a girl who is in our team, so she should contribute food. We managed to get the flag, so---"
"Shameless! You are just a pig headed---"
"Enough! Those who want food will find themselves food," Dew shouted. Marco was still pissed, but he just turned his head to Amishta and smiled. Urno still wanted to speak, but he was taken by his friend away from Amishta.
"Brother, are you okay? Did you find your flag?" Amishta consecutively asked.
"I am fine. Yes, we did. I was just checking which route we will use. My teammates are just resting. But how come your team is full of bruises? You even sound weak, yet you dare to hunt food for your team. But I felt like even without me, there are people who wanted to help you."
"We encounter an enemy, perhaps a part of the training. I am hungry, so I did. Do you want some?" Amishta cut her portion and gave it to Marcos, but he declined. He pushed it back to Amishta and forced her to eat it.
"I just got my meal. You eat; you are already so weak." Amishta agreed.
"Then, I'll keep going. I need to go back first. If you have a problem---"
"Yes, brother. I will." Amishta then pushed him to go. Her team looked at her weirdly.
"What? Did I do something?" Amishta asked while eating.
"Who is he?" Zion raised his brows.
"My brother, we may not have the same blood, but our relationship is just like that of real siblings," Amishta explained. Her facial expression was so real that they needed to be suspicious about it. Amishta is pretending to be an orphan to them. Thus, Amishta having a brother was good for them.
"That's good. Then we just need to eat." Zion gets the hares and gives each their portion.
After eating, Amishta and her team regained a bit of their strength. Though their group members didn't eat much, they don't really care as long as he has some strength to walk until the finish line; then it is fine. They all wanted to finish the challenge, so they went down early.
When they were halfway down the mountain, traps were all around them. Every move can unexpectedly lead to an arrow or a sword that can kill them; they need first to create a strategy.
"How can they actually put such traps here? If we are not totally careful, then we will die."
"This is just the beginning of our training. If this was a real war, we were already dead from the start," Dew explained and observed the surroundings very carefully. Urno was sweating. He didn't observe the path and thus accidentally stepped into a trap.
Arrows are directly coming in their direction. So they chose to do the basic tactic. They just need to move from one place to another, but as they move, more and more traps are coming to them. As they were near the end of the traps, Fred collapsed as he was hit in his foot. He still hadn't recovered, so Nathan volunteered to help him, but he was also full of wounds.
Amishta noticed it and moved back to protect Fred. Jose, Zion, and others rushed to help. Their groupmates just watched them from the other side; they don't have the total courage to help them since they always think that they might die from there.
"Zion, we cover you and Fred. Carry him," Amishta commanded. They all moved in sync and got to the other side. Their groupmates were quite amazed with Amishta's team but didn't say anything. Dew knew that it was his responsibility to save them, but he was preoccupied for quite some time.
"Amishta, you have a—never mind. Let's go!" Dew didn't continue his statement because they looked at him disappointed, and some just don't care. Dew was rather envious of how Amishta suddenly tamed her group in just a few hours while he was just nothing but a title.
Dew just sighed and led his team to the finish line. They still need to walk for an hour.
"We need to jog from this part up to the end. We also need to try if we can pursue the first place," Dew commanded and led the group. They were all exhausted but continued to jog. It was just a matter of time when they arrived, but they didn't achieve first place.
"That was fine. Even if we don't reach first place, at least we finished it. Third place is still good," Dew comforted. They nodded and took a rest. Since they reached the top 3, then they surely got to stay, but since they were not in first place, then they don't receive a prize.
They all separated to take some rest. Amishta sneakily went to her room even in pain. Jane was very worried about her master's appearance, but she was also happy because her master seemed to be getting a more powerful aura.
"Seems like you started to learn martial arts already."
"Yes, Princess. I am but still a beginner. I am not like you, who actually learns everything in just a second." Amishta smirked at Jane. Since she had been learning from Butler Li, she totally changed. She is now observant and thinks broadly.
"Good. Not bad. Don't humble yourself too much. I knew that you were talented and learned things fast, too. I actually underestimated you." Jane blushed all over.
"Don't push yourself too much. I knew that you almost didn't sleep because of practicing. Though I know you were also pressured by me, take it easy. We still have a year to prepare. Don't give up your body when we never started."
"Yes, Princess. I—I just want to ask, what are we preparing?" Jane asked hesitantly. Now that she wanted to help her master, she must at least know something to really prepare herself. Amishta was stunned but smiled sadly at Jane.
"War," Amishta declared. She wanted to lie at first, but looking at Jana's determination, she just briefly stated her reason. Jane was shocked.
"War? Are we going to war after a year?" Jane asked, and Amishta just nodded.
"It is more than that. Our kingdom is in danger. We need to save it." Jane trusts Amishta too much, so she mentally takes an oath to do everything with her master. Though she still doesn't understand things, knowing her master, she then has confidence.
"Princess Butler Li stated that you need to visit Old Duke tomorrow. It has something to do with your assessment." Jane felt that there was something wrong with that assessment. Though Old Duke liked Amishta, Butler Li told her that he was a demon; thus, maybe his training will also be of a demon.
"I get it. Don't worry. I will be just fine. If things go worse, I will just cry, and he will just do everything to comfort me." Jane doubted it because, based on Amishta's temperament after they had arrived, she wouldn't act pitiful when learning. She might even make herself be in pain just to learn something.
"Alright, let's just sleep.
Amishta woke up early and took her run as usual. She then changed her clothes and looked for her grandfather. She was very enthusiastic about the assessment and meeting her grandfather.
"Good morning, grandfather. I wish you a good day. Amishta happily seated beside her grandfather and eats with him. Old Duke just nodded but with a soft smile.
"Grandfather, eat this." Amishta just put dishes onto his grandfather's plate and ate.
"Are you okay?" Old Duke blurted when he felt that Amishta was a bit weak. Amishta smiled and shook her head.
"Grandfather, I am perfectly fine. We just trained in the mountain, and perhaps I just overused my body." Old Duke just nodded. They eat peacefully until full.
"Follow me to my study room." Amishta looked at Butler Li, trying to ask what was wrong. Butler Li shrugged. Old Duke signaled Butler Li to guard the door for them. The Old Duke accidentally knocked the vase, but Amishta was fast enough to catch it.
"Grandfather, is there something you wanted to tell me?" Amishta asked while trying to observe the room. It was rather a plain room with just a few books on the table and the nearly broken vase.
"You knew my identity as a Blood Sect Master, so you should know that as my only disciple, you need to take over the sect." Amishta was stunned. How can she not think about such an important detail?
"The day you come and ask me to be your teacher, I know you don't have that idea, but as the Blood Sect Master, I become greedy with the thought that I can pass it to my descendant. I can see a good potential that I didn't see from your mother and uncle. You are my only granddaughter, so I want you to think again. I can always teach you without you being my disciple."
"I---" Amishta was lost.
"No worries. I already trained someone to be my successor. I just—never mind. Just do what you want. I will just support you anyways." Amishta smirked.