Day Two

Cora isn't letting him go this morning and he really can't force her at the moment. She hadn't seen him after he nearly died until last night and she clung to him like a layer of skin. "Cora I need to get moving and start the day dear." she says no as he smiles "Please, I will spoil you more tonight I promise." she says no and he laughs "Don't be greedy dear." she lifts her head looking to him as he smiles and says no "I will be yours once more tonight dear so don't worry."

Dante is looking around as they went home yesterday after the failed outing and many find this area even more empty after so many left. Some wanted to stay after saying they wouldn't be Hunters again. When people started talking they couldn't come up with a reason why besides they would rather live here than the dorms, even if they were not helping.

After yesterday a lot of reflecting was done by everyone and some people have been there but never really contributed. They enjoyed all the benefits while keeping themselves safe and just tagged along for the fame and fortune. Many were upset when that was figured out but Dante prevented issues by simply having them head back until a time comes they rejoin. He didn't want to do it but honestly is the best choice.

He is looking over the reformed Beasts and smiles as he sees the eighteen of them who went through hell who came out stronger. He calls out as they all look up as he made a feast this morning. "We have had some rough times the last couple of days however I think I solved what to do."

Janet comes up getting a plate and several items as she looks to him. "What is that Dante?" she takes a bite and shudders as he smiles so she turns her back as she keeps eating the candied bacon "Oh yeah, have you heard who our hopeful is today?"

Dante smiles as others are getting food and he holds his hand up as Cora takes the hunk of meat from him. "After this contest we will head out and spend some time beyond the wall. It won't be like my time was as we will have gear and each other. I am going to also get ahold of the teachers and set it up so we can still do our classes."

Onya walks up pouting as he shakes his head and she picks up some food. "You think they will do that?" he shrugs and smiles "Don't know until we try but honestly think this will help us all."

He nods and looks around as everyone is getting food. "I think I will look into getting some more people here, either friends or people to do various tasks." as they all look to him "Yeah I feel it is lonely here now too."

They show up and look around as he checks his watch. "Dante it looks like we are over here today." he looks over and looks up as he sees a glowing sign "What is Hybrid Mech Contest?"

A voice speaks up from the side as they all look over. "They haven't done this contest style for around nine years." as they look to the event coordinator he smiles "They are specialized combat machines designed to emulate animals and you win by doing the most damage." he taps as several show up "Each animal is worth different points and the final standing is determined by how many points you earn."

They are all sitting there and feel rather good as they can send in as many as they want. However this rapidly turns into a load of bull as their team has the least members in their bracket and not by a small margin even. Carter comes in and the look on his face says it all. "Yeah, this seems to be instigated. The top elven count Academies are in this with you after they requested you lower your numbers too."

Dante looks around as all of them stand up and smile as he looks to Carter. "Just means time to feast upon the weak and climb this tower."

Carter looks to them all and nods as he looks to Dante. "These look like animals but they aren't. Weaknesses are not represented and while you all face the real beasts those academies practice on robots like these. They did everything they can to stack it against you so go out there and do what you all do best."

Jasmine steps up and nods her head as she looks over and Cory nods in response. "We will show these damned humans what it means to anger Beasts."

Dante is walking as his team is behind him. All of them move in a calm way but everyone from teams to staff move out of the way as they head to the giant battle stage. They arrive and Dante doesn't even look at the board as going first is the worst slot so knows, they are first. As one of the staff comes over he looks over and points. "So when do we start this?"

The woman smiles a little weakly as the pressure near this group is a lot higher than she had thought it would be. "It will begin in a few minutes. I am here to inform you of some rules and how the scoring works."

Cory looks over. "Bust the toys, score the points, a time limit is in effect, and our only question is do we get bonus points for finishing early?"

She can't hide her shock as they all look to her except Dante who only looks forward. "Um well that is true and some of them have different score but there are two hundred robots and some are very powerful." she doesn't want to call them weak so is looking for words "Clearing them all is a rather, hard order but if a team manages it they do get bonus points."

Cory nods and waves a hand. "Everyone knows that, what we are interested in is if you do it quickly is there bonus points?" as she looks to him "We are hungry and these toys won't satisfy so once done here we already have a couple hunts lined up."

Edna is laughing heavily as those in the VIP booth area look over to her and some upset while most are amused by her reactions. Ally looks over and smiles some and looks to her watch. "Dante has sent his updated times. He is leaving forty minutes for this test, after that he estimates two hours hunting, and at the end he will be on time for the holo shoot."

Edna calms and looks to her before she motions. "Why is he giving so much time to this? Will it really take more than twenty?" those around her all jerk and stare over at that statement as Ally says chasing time and she nods "Oh yeah, they will try and prevent them from succeeding so will make the robots avoid them."

The woman looks to this team and feels she can't fall to their jokes and nods keeping her calm. "This test has a timeframe of six hours and two hundred robots for each team. It has only been fully cleared by teams of over sixty before and even then it took over five hours."

Dante looks over smiling some as she stops and stares into those eyes feeling a distinctive sensation. He nods and motions. "Don't forget to breathe miss unless you need some help?" he winks as she gasps and takes a deep breath feeling like a predator just released her "We are busy so will take up less than an hour of your time."

She nods and turns nearly running as all of them look back to the flashing gateway waiting for it to open. "So what is the average you think we can do Dante?" he looks over to Lindsey and smiles "Oh come on, don't we get a guess?"

Dante laughs and smiles as he looks forward. "Like the plan was, go solo and rip these toys apart. Our average is five a minute or more as we will finish this in forty or less. They want to play games with us but we are not here to entertain, we are here to instill fear."

Cassandra is heading over with Nina and he turns then smiles seeing the pair. "We came to wish you luck my God." he laughs and nods as he looks to Nina as she steps closer "Nina wanted to come up and wish you luck too."

He looks to her as she bites her lip and looks around so shy he feels a need to grab her up running off. She looks to him and smiles leaning forward. "Um, I really want to train with you." he smiles as he nods saying he will show her something she likes as she blushes and nods quickly moving behind Cassandra "I, I really want to, want to see."

Tabitha shakes her head and looks to Dante as he looks forward. "Just what they didn't need you getting." as he looks over she smiles "A customer to feed." he laughs and nods with a smile as she looks forward "Alright everyone we have a simple task and then we can get back to doing something fun."

Onya steps up next to Dante. "You are the fount of our power and right now we are near bursting." he starts to hiss softly as she nods "Will you be going easy again or will you actually fight this time?"

Dante calms and looks to her as he nods his head. "I think a big sister deserves to join us in this fight. However worry not as I won't let her kitten fight alone today."

Jasmine steps up and puts a hand on his shoulder. "I can see a boar in there. They intend to smash us right off the bat. What are you going to do?"

Everyone looks to the holos or screens as he looks over and smiles softly as he kisses her hand. "I am thinking of bacon wrapped steaks tonight. Perhaps I should work up a slight appetite."