Preparations (2)

As the boys went to sleep, they were oblivious to what was happening just next door.

"I'll give you one minute to hide." Ashley said coldly while looking towards Rya.

"Haha Ashley, I already said sorry! It was just a joke! I'm not an animal to be hunted.... please..." Rya said panicking.

Time ticked away and Ashley reminded "30 seconds remaining.." She took a dagger out and began flipping it into the air, she was cracking a smile which only amplified Rya's fear

"I wanted to use my improved skills on a moving target" A smirk appeared on her face.. "10 seconds remaining.."

At Ashley's last remark Rya began running for the hills. "Here I come!" Ashley said in a strange, creepy voice.

For about an hour Ashley and Rya played cat and mouse inside the cramped room, jumping from bed to bed, through the beds, and from side to side. Rya was doing her best to not be caught but because she was heavily strained by the training they did before, and because they had yet to rest, Ashley caught her and got a beating from her, she was lucky enough that Ashley didn't specialize in strength.

As Ashley's attitude died down they were finally able to go to sleep.

** Next day **

As the sun rose from over the city gates the youths woke up from their sleep. They were already accustomed to waking up early so everyone began opening their eyes at about the same hour to prepare for training only to remember the fact that they were supposed to rest for two days. Groans were heard as more and more people began remembering this fact.

"Ken.." Max groaned. With itchy eyes he was awoken by the snores of Ken which didn't even bother waking up alongside the others. He cursed him in a low voice before getting up from the bed and changing his clothes in something more casual.

Max went to freshen up, the cold water waking him from the half-asleep state he was in. He slowly made his way back at Ken, he didn't want him to be one of the lucky few who could sleep until later.

"Ken.." Max whispered.

*Snore*

"Ken..." Max said a little louder, and a bit annoyed.

*Snore*

Max grabbed Ken's arm which hang off the bed frame, in the air. He stood with Ken's arm in his hand, and he remembered what he did yesterday. With no remorse he pulled hard on the arm, sending Ken falling towards the floor. " Ah!! "

*Thud* "My head!" Ken yelled, not knowing about the people still sleeping. "The hell was that!" He was rising his voice with each word.

"Just shut up... you deserve it .." Max stopped to look around ".. people are sleeping also, so stop yelling if you don't want a bigger headache." Max extended his hand, trying to help Ken off the ground.

Ken gave a look to Max while extending his arm, grabbing Max's arm, and getting up. "I'll get you back for this... " Ken grunted, as he massaged the back of his head ".. you better watch your back.." He continued in a low voice.

"What?" Max turned around. In reality he heard him but wanted to see if he would say it to his face.

"I'll get you for this!" Ken said loudly, and with his last yell, he was his in the back of the head again by a wooden cup.

"Just shut up already!" Someone yelled angrily. "Yea! F**k off dammit!" Another voice joined in as another object was thrown towards Ken.

They hurriedly left the dorm, some random stuff was hitting Ken as some people that were awoken by his yells were angry and started began stuff at him. Max got hit here and there too as they weren't that close to the dorms exit so it took a while to get outside and being that close to Ken wasn't a safe spot for anyone.

"That was fun!" Ken said with a smile on his lips.

'He actually liked that? What a strange guy..' Max thought while looking at Ken.

"Go fresh up. I will wait for you here." Max said as he began heading in the direction of the girl's dorms.

"I haven't even managed to change.." Ken said grunting and looking at what he was wearing. After a while he went back into the dorm to change and freshen up.

As Max approached the dorms of the girls he could hear literally no sound coming from it. He got close to the door but as he was about to knock...

*Creak*

Ashley, dressed in a purple dress stepped out. She wore a warm smile, it was a relaxed smile as if she was relieved about something. "Hello, Max." She was a bit surprised, seeing Max as soon as she opened the door.

"Hi.." He looked at her. There aren't a lot of occasions to see her have such a bright and refreshed face, so Max got surprised and didn't know what to say.

"The other girls are still equipping... Where will we be going? Will we be trying to sneak out?" She asked Max with a calm tone.

"Has anything happened?" Max said still confused.

"Don't delve on it, it was something in between us girls." Ashley hurriedly said after seeing and hearing the confused question of Max.

They stood around and waited for the other girls and Ken. He took a little longer than expected, maybe he was tussled by the people that couldn't fall asleep anymore but as he came towards Max no scratch marks were on him so Max didn't know the reason for him being late.

"Oh.. hey Ashley!" Ken, seeing her, hurriedly greeted her.

Instead of greeting, she ignored him. Ken was a little bit annoyed and looked towards Max but he paid no mind and continued thinking about something.

Rya and Anna finally came outside the dorms. They looked around for a while and managed to spot Max and the other two by a wall.

Rya began waving at them, catching Ashley's and Ken's attention. "Hey guys how are you doing?", the voice belonged to Rya, she was giggling, she looked like a mad person when trying to hold her laughter.

Max heard them so he came back from his immersed state and greeted them. "Guys, I have something to say, can we gather around?"

With that statement, the others didn't continue talking and surrounded Max. Max got to tell them about his doubts and plans if his doubts were true.

After that, the day went on as usual, they did some light technique training and just joked around for the two free days. It was a good time for them to act like normal teenagers for once, not concerned about training or hunting.

** Monday Morning **

"Is everyone here?" Eric, with a sleepy face and clad in a sky blue robe, asked the slim adult besides him, he was wearing a dark blue suit, with a face that reflected seriousness. He looked at the book in his hand, it had all the names crossed. He nodded, then affirmed " Yes sir! This should be all of them!"

Without a second thought Eric turned around while saying loudly "Then let's go!"