Time to get serious.

As the tense people heard Lazaro's evil laugh and Lila's helpless moans they felt humorous and contrary to expected, fell asleep more easily.

One hour later, Lazaro went out of the tent. Behind him, Lila laid spread on the mattress with saliva oozing out of her mouth in a barely conscious state, he had talked with her for a bit after the deed, but he still had things to solve.

He exchanged her blankets and sheets with his own and placed her in a more comfortable position and covered her. 'D-Don't leave.' She grabbed his arm. Her eyes were dazed "I'm here don't worry." He said. her eyelids trembled attempting to stay open but they were too heavy and she fell asleep.

He sighed 'I sent her to Happyland only four times in one hour and a half, this physic is holding me back.' He thought.

(...) Hyera didn't bother to comment on people who toot their own horns.

It was around twenty-three in the night. He closed the tent behind him and walked to the firepit, Larissa was staring at the roasted heart on her palm. "I never even eaten a chicken's heart, this is weird."

"If you eat it, you'll grow strong."

She looked back and forth from him and the heart. He denied making her strong, but right after that, he passes her exercises? She wasn't sure of his intention.

But thoughts of how she doesn't have another option other than run away and how dangerous that'll be made her bit the heart and ate it fast to avoid thinking about it.

(You're truly a petty bastard.)

'She conned Lazaro of superbia, although I didn' t mind it, it doesn't mean she'll go unpunished.' He laughed inwardly while picking up the roasted heart and nibbling it

She finished eating. 'What this!? Larissa questioned. Her heartbeat raced, the heat on her muscles went up high it was like something growing inside of her threating to burst her, like too much air on a ballon.

She was red and sweating.

Lazaro's sleazy cheap smile got on her face, and she suddenly understood "MOTHERFU-"

"If you don't work that energy off, you'll die."

She clenched her teeth and ran to her tent while he laughed with satisfaction.

(She'll be alright because of her amount of essence and strong physics, she'll even double her physical strength, but you're only skin and bones now, with no way to protect yourself with essence.

'As long as I burn the essence as it is digested I'll have no problem.'

(Well, beasts indeed evolve by eating other beasts and gathering the essence of nature. But are you sure? won't it take too long?)

"I don't need to hurry, if my meridians and Dantian are broken then I'll just rely on my body. You seem to have forgotten, but I'm a master craftsman, my body will be my best work, my, magnum opus."

(...)

Lazaro ignored her and started doing pushups.

As the meat was digested the essence was accumulating naturally on his body. He identified the nature of each strand of the essence and with his intent, placed each kind in the most suitable parts of his body, and much like his artifacts, he refined the essence into his muscles together with common protein from the food.

Slowly he felt his body's quality changing.

****

Six in the morning. Lazaro stopped his exercise and clapped loudly.

"Gather!"

Gerald, the old man, came up with his Granddaughter and started to bag his tent and water, Avilá did the same with his friend with waist-long silver hair. Lucas the boar looked at him with rage as he got out of the tent, and started doing the same. Since the incident of his beat-up, he called Lazaro a smiling fool, and in turn, Lazaro called him boar.

As they prepared their things Lazaro heated the meat form breakfast.

"Things will be hard, I'll need you all to be steady." He said, unusually serious.

They all stopped what they were doing and paid attention to him, seriousness permeated the air.

"You petty motherfucker!" A sudden cry cut off the mood, together with a tent's door being torn apart.

Larissa's usually gentle and calm was etched with a bulging vein and a sweaty wet hair and clenching teeth.

Her eyes were red with rage her whole body was wet with sweat. She managed to buy military clothing too and it got all wet. her chest was heaving. Lazaro meant to laugh when a green ball of essence tore through the air and grazed past his ear, He heard the tree behind fall down.

'Shit.'

Larissa bolted at him with double the strength from yesterday "I"ll kill you!"

The serious people were stunned.

*riiip*

Another tent's door ripped open. "Lazaro you heartless bastard you promised to wake up beside me!" Lila stepped outside with another black military clothing and roared

The sight of Larissa punching and Lazaro dodging appeared on her eyes.

"You whore! How dare you!? He's mine!" Lila immediately acted.

Her hoodlum manner came back and she started throwing rocks at Larissa.

"C-Calm down woman"

"I could've died!"

"Stop hitting him!"

"I didn't get him once yet!"

Another rock came right at Larissa, she dodged to the side and it hit Lazaro's face.

The serious moment went away in a blink. The people were holding their laughter.

Lazaro held his bleeding nose and looked at both of them menacingly.

'I have to put those two in line...'