Chapter Twevle

"Where is Eli? It's been three days now." Nor paced the room with a frown. Normally, Eli would be back after a day of scouting, at most she would come back and head straight back. After all, they didn't have a proper way to communicate in this world. "Should I go check with Kir?"

Just as she was lost in her own thoughts, Kir rushed into the room. "Nor!"

"What happened?" She frowned deeply. Kir's face was pale, and he was even trembling slightly.

"Outside! Bears and wolves!" As he said this, he rushed back out.

"What?" Nor grabbed her thin sword from the corner of the room and sprinted out as well. Her gaze saw Kir staring at the forest, trembling. "How many--?" She quickly got beside him and asked, but when her eyes saw the scene, even she began to tremble.

"Wassup." Alem sat on top of Yellow with a bitter smile. "I come in peace." He said with a deep tone, yet soon after a small escaped his mouth. "Damn, I always wanted to do that. Haha!"

"Eli!" Sitting in front of Alem was Eli. Her eyes were closed, as if she was asleep.

"Shh, why are you so loud?" Alem shook his head. He got off Yellow and helped Eli down. Picking her up like a princess, he walked towards them while sighing. "She died in battle."

"No…" Kir's hands trembled while Nor's eyes began to water. "You… you killed her!" She suddenly jumped off the small cliff and rushed towards him with her sword.

Grrrrrr

Brown and Yellow were ready to pounce at her, yet Alem turned his head and glared at them. "Don't move."

"Die!" She aimed at Alem's head, yet the latter did a small side step with Eli in his arms.

"Woah there, you almost hit your friend." He saw that Nor didn't stop. She did a sudden turn and slashed at him, yet Alem ducked. "You're really trying to kill me, haha." As he laughed, he felt a presence from behind. "Sneaky." Lifting one leg up, he barely avoided the large sword that Kir swung at him. "Now now, let's discuss this like civilized people."

"No need for a discussion. You killed our cousin, you deserve death!" Kir spoke with gritted teeth. His gaze landed on Eli's arm, and he couldn't help but yell. "You bastard!"

With all his might, he swung his sword over and over again. Yet, Alem kept dodging without breaking a sweat. Even Nor pounced at him from the side, yet each of their swords missed, hitting thin air.

"You guys are swinging so stupidly. Why have a sword when you can't use it?" He ducked, jumped, side stepped, all of it with Eli still in his arms. The duo were getting tired by the second, yet also knew that Alem was much more skilled than them. They were panicking but had to keep swinging, hoping they could land one hit atleast.

A few more seconds passed and Alem finally got annoyed. Using his left leg, he kicked Kir's hand, forcing him to drop his sword. Doing a small leap, he then aimed for his stomach with his right foot, forcing him down. Turning his head, he watched Nor rush towards him in a zigzag manner. In a nonchalant manner, he placed Eli on the ground and walked towards Nor in a straight path. As her blade neared his head, he leaned back ever so slightly, and then grabbed her wrist. "Ah." She groaned as he twisted it, causing the blade to fall.

"Enough now." He sighed and kicked the blade away.

Nor glared at Alem with red eyes, hate and disgust filling her heart. "I will kill you even if I die trying."

"You will just die trying." He shook his head. "Also, your friend isn't dead, I was just playing." He laughed a little and let go of her wrist. Turning his back, he walked back towards Eli and lifted her up. "She's just unconscious."

"You're lying." Nor said while seething in anger.

"Probably." He said while shrugging. "Anyways, this place is really nice, huh?" He glanced at the beautifully constructed house. It was built into a cave while attached to a large tree. Truly better than his own design. "Yellow, Brown, just wait outside." He smiled and made his way towards the house.

"Where are you going?!" Nor asked, but kept a distance. She knew that he could easily overpower her and Kir. There was nothing they could do to him.

"Just checking the place out." As he slowly walked up the hill, he became a little confused. "I was in the forest for so long, why have I never seen this place?"

"Nor, what do we do?" Kir struggled towards Nor while gripping his blade tightly.

"Just keep an eye on him. We can't beat him, plus he has Eli's body." They were stuck in a situation that made them fearful and uncomfortable. They couldn't fight and could only let Alem do as he pleased.

"Atleast show me around." Alem looked at them from afar and said while smiling. 'Playing the bad guy is kind of fun, haha.'

The two exchanged looks before carefully following behind Alem. They kept their weapons firmly in their hands, though trembling slightly. Maybe it was fear, agitation, anger, or something else. Even they didn't know.

"This is kind of unfair." As they entered the house, Alem nodded his head and found a place to sit. He laid Eli next to him and spoke in an irritated manner. "Not only do you guys start off with weapons, but you even get to have your family start with you. I, on the other hand, started off with jack shit."

The two kept quiet, just watching Alem complain.

"Oh c'mon. It was a joke. Eli is alright, she is just unconscious because of these injuries and exhaustion." He pointed at her arm and spoke with a bitter smile. "It was a bad joke, but I've been really bored for the past year."

"You say that, but who gave her the injuries?" Nor was certain Eli was alive only because she could still see the girl breathing soundly. This helped her become a bit calmer, but her alertness never lowered.

"That doesn't count." Alem kept a poker face while he spoke.

"Why doesn't that count? Look at her arm, you destroyed it basically." Nor fumed while speaking, almost wanting to rush over and cut Alem into pieces.

"It was a misunderstanding. As you know, we're technically enemies, and I assumed she was there to kill me, which is not wrong either. I just had my wolf fetch her and she got injured. So really, you guys are in the wrong, not me." Alem placed his hands behind his head and spoke as a matter of fact.

"How are we in the wrong? You're completely fine, yet look at her." Kir got pissed and roared at Alem. If Nor wasn't holding him back, he would have lunged and sliced Alem's head off.

"Don't twist logic." Alem suddenly glared, his colored eyes glaring at Kir. "I'm already very nice by not killing the three of you and stealing your beads. I could easily get three from you two right now, plus you guys likely have more, so I could potentially complete the first task right this moment." His icy stare causes the two to take a step back. Their backs were drenched while his words rang in their heads.

'He's right. Why hasn't he struck? What's his goal?' His actions became a mystery to her. Despite being smart herself, she couldn't understand his goal. He was powerful alone, plus he had animals on his side. Not only that, but based on Eli's reports, he had his own food source, a place to stay, and so much more. Killing them was completely advantageous to him, there was no loss. Still, she kept her mouth shut, just waiting for him to expose his goals.

"Listen." He got up and walked away from Eli. He moved carefully, allowing the two to slowly near her. "Although I don't need you guys to survive this test. You guys can totally help make survival easier and more comfortable. Eli told me how each of you possess information about various survival topics. You even know how to make proper tools, create homes, and so much more."

"So, you want to team up essentially?" Nor spoke up carefully.

"Yeah." Alem smiled. "Even if you say no, I won't kill you guys. I'm honestly not too concerned with this test. We have so much time to collect beads, I can take my sweet time. But it's boring alone, plus I don't know how to do a thing."

"Why would we team up with you?" After making sure that Eli wasn't too injured, Nor got up and asked with caution. "What would we gain from a stranger who could potentially kill us all?"

Seeing her speak in a commanding tone, Alem couldn't help but scratch his head. "You know, I don't need to sneak attack or anything, right? And it isn't 'potentially', killing all of you isn't a task for me. Plus, my pets outside can do it as well, I won't even need to lift a finger." Though his words were harsh, Alem showed an embarrassed expression. He felt weird saying this aloud in such a casual tone. He felt like a show-off, but nonetheless, it was true. "You would gain a lot from partnering with me. It's filled with benefits. For me, I only get higher comfortably, while you guys have an almost guaranteed chance of surviving."

"So cocky." Nor snorted. "We are weaker than most contestants, yes. But who says you can guarantee anything?"

"I can guarantee, atleast if it comes to attacks. I don't think there is a person in this place that could beat me in a fight. Atleast when we are in such conditions." Alem was very confident in his own skills.

"How can we even trust you?" She asked once again.

Seeing her act like this, Alem sighed and walked out. "Forget it."

"Where are you going?" His sudden attitude caught her off guard.

"Let's not go back and forth. Good luck." Alem spoke while half way through the door.

Watching him actually leave, Nor looked at Eli and then back at Alem. She smacked her head, thinking hard about their situation. "Fine, fine!" She yelled.

"Nor, what are you doing? Let him leave." Kir did not have a good opinion of Alem. Afterall, Eli was in bad shape, and Alem was the cause.

Ignoring him, Nor speedily walked out. "Hey, listen."

"Woah there." Alem bumped into her as he was already walking back towards the door. "I heard you already. You were loud enough." He laughed while taking a step back from her.

"Alright. But I have a few conditions as well." She looked at him carefully and spoke in a cautious manner.

"Yeah yeah, what do you want?" Alem rolled his eyes. 'Seems like my books aren't incorrect. These people really do act arrogant. Luckily it's this girl asking, if it was the boy, I would have smacked him.'

She frowned at his reaction, but still spoke. "We will share all food, you will not live with us, and we get priority over beads since there are more of us."

"No problem." Alem didn't even listen to their commands. He could care less about it. In the end, he would do whatever he pleased, and they would just have to follow along. To avoid an argument, he decided to say yes. It was quick and simple.

"Are you sure?" Nor was surprised by his quick agreement and found it fishy.

"Are you sure? Like I'm sure, but are you?" Alem teased while smirking.

"Of course, I'm sure. I'm just making sure you're sure." Defending her stance, her eyes glared daggers at his nonchalant expression. "Alright, since the deal is done, we will come to your place to further discuss the situation and our plans moving forward."

"Already forcing me to leave? Atleast give me a meeting gift." A sorrowful expression on his face.

"A gift? Then you should give us something too." Nor wasn't just going to hand things over for free. Though Alem was the strongest of them all, that didn't mean he could be so demanding.

"Why are you getting so pissed?" Alem couldn't help smiling weakly at her. "I played a small prank, but we should be good now. We're even a team, atleast treat me like a teammate."

Listening to his words, Nor took a deep breath. She thought for a moment before nodding her head. "You're right. Since we're a team now, I should treat you fairly. Sadly, we don't have much. Even our food supply is low so there isn't much we could offer." She decided to be a bit more honest with the guy. Him not attacking them and not getting angry at her demands was already him being nice. No matter how frustrated Nor was, it was a fact that Alem could do whatever he pleased, yet he didn't.

"Honestly, I just want some clothes. As you can see, I don't have any good ones." Pointing at his leafy skirt and the messy leather top, he couldn't help but be a little embarrassed. He was virtually naked. "As long as it is comfortable and easy to move around in, I don't care what it looks like."

"Alright, that is something we can give you." She measured him with her eyes a little, eyeballing him a little. He was bigger and more muscular than Kir, but it wasn't a huge difference. So, she could use the latter's clothes as a reference. Plus, they were able to acquire threads quite easily. "Is that everything?"

"Can you guys make a weapon?" He looked at her sword while speaking. "Unlike you three, I started off with nothing. I have no proper weapons, nor do I know how to make one. I will do the labor work, of course you're going to have to teach me. As for the type of weapon, I don't care what it is. I just don't want it to fall apart after a few uses." During his thousand-year battle training, though he mostly focused on sword and dagger skills, he was still forced to learn every other weapon to the point of extreme mastery.

"We could make a weapon, but that will require lots of material gathering. We need to get a proper place set up for it as well." Luckily, Nor's group had basic forging skills, so they could design basic weapons and even set up smelteries and alike. It would just require a long while to get ready. "Alright, we will get the clothes ready for you within the next few days. As for the weapon, give me a bit to think of a plan and then we will move forward with that as well."

"Sure." He walked down from the entrance area and slowly got on top of Yellow. "As for my gift, just come to my place later and I'll give it to you." With that said, he left with his group.

"Nor, what are you thinking? We can't trust this guy." Kir walked beside her and spoke with a bit of anxiety. "You saw his movements. We couldn't land an attack on him at all. Plus, all these animals are creatures we don't dare mess with, yet he controls them all. He's dangerous."

"That's the reason I agreed to his proposition. He is strong enough to kill us all, yet he didn't, which shows initial trust. Of course, there is a chance he will get rid of us after he benefits enough, but that is a risk we have to take. It's not like we have a choice at this point. He could kill us now, or later. Better later." She had thought through everything and even her words were not spoken carelessly. Her aggression, commands, needs, everything was planned. She needed to see how he would react, and plan things based on that. "For now, I think we are safe. We also really need his help. Without him, sure we can use his farms, but can we handle the wolves and bears the same way? Based on Eli's scouting, he is also rearing snakes and scorpions, something we would never be able to do."

"Wait, you guys were scouting this person? You didn't even tell me?!" Kir was baffled and disheartened. "Do you guys distrust me this much?"

"We don't trust your reactions. Knowing how you act; you might have launched an attack by now." Snorting, she walked back into the house. "Forget about it. Let's focus on getting Eli back on her feet and asking her what happened. We need as much information as possible."

A week soon passed.

Outside of Alem's cabin, Nor and her group stood patiently. "Why is he taking so long?" Tapping her feet impatiently, Nor kept glaring at the cabin door.

"Calm down. Also, don't get worked up with him, he isn't a bad person." Eli rolled her eyes while looking at Nor.

As they stood around, the door creaked open and Alem walked out. "How does it look?" He asked while keeping his arms slightly up. "It fits fine, though a little loose."

"Looks good." Eli said with a smile. Unlike her cousins, she actually did not have any hate for Alem. Sure, her arm was in a mess because of him, but she was spying on him. Plus, he took good care of her for three days, and even saw her cry a bunch, so she felt somewhat close to the guy. "I will fix it up better later for you."

"Thanks." Alem smiled at her while pulling out a small snake from his pocket. Yes, he finally had pockets again! "Here Eli." The snake had no eyes, even its mouth was small. The scales on its body were akin to the desert sand. It was his pet snake, the one he named Sandy.

"Oh, Sandy." Eli quickly grabbed the little thing and wrapped it around her neck. Though she was dying of pain during the three days and a few after, the little snake was always around, sleeping on her at times as well. Thus, she liked it a lot.

Kir and Nor watched the scene with lifted eyebrows, but they didn't say anything.

"Alright, let's get down to business?" Alem looked at Nor with a smile. He led them into his home and sat on the floor with them all. "So, what are your plans?"

Pulling out a large piece of hide, Nor began to point around at random places. "So, we haven't done much traveling, but this is the basic area we know of. You have your desert here, the ocean here, the forest…" Pointing at each of the areas, Nor finally allowed Alem to have a better idea of the geography.

"You say this area is filled with poisonous smog?" This was a concerning factor. This would completely cut off that area until they could get a gas mask of sorts. "Were you able to see any mountains?"

"The grey area is dangerous, and we can't survive in it. As for mountains, we could see a few past the desert and the grey area." In the room, only Alem and Nor spoke. At times, Eli would say one or two words, but nothing else. They discussed not only the land, but difficulties in finding candidates, food, and really anything.

[System Notice!]

"What?" Everyone in the room became surprised, but they kept silent and listened.

[Beast King with multiple pellets is appearing! Location…]

"A beast king?" Nor looked at the two next to her with a bit of shock. "The location is a bit far, but we can fight for it." She then looked at Alem. "If we use your wolves, we can totally get there in time. The beast king could have a bunch of pellets, possibly five or more."

Rubbing his chin for a bit, Alem finally shook his head.

"What? Why not?" She got up and glared at him. "It will be faster with the wolves."

"We won't go at all, is what I mean." He didn't get up and kept looking at Nor.

"What do you mean? We need pellets, we should hurry to the place. If we kill the beast king then we could get so many." Her breathing hurried as her chest kept rising and falling.

"I agree, we should hurry there." Kir also spoke up this time. Eli, however, kept her mouth shut. Her injuries weren't healed so her ability to fight was greatly compromised.

"What are both of you even talking about?" Alem shook his head while sighing. "Without me, you won't last in a fight against a beast king, let alone a single one of my wolves." Though his words were harsh, they knew this.

"Which is why I'm asking you to take us there. You can beat the beast king, so it isn't a problem. As for other candidates, you can leave them to use, or even your wolves." She wasn't dumb, if they got the message, everyone else also got it. It would be a big gathering, possibly fatal.

"Don't get me wrong. I'm not worried about the beast king nor other candidates. They could all jump me at once and I'm not too worried." He exuded an aura of strong confidence while he spoke. His smirk also had a bit of lazy arrogance, something that seemed natural. "However, I don't want to go right now. I feel we have lots of time so why rush?"

"Why rush? Have you seen the leaderboard? The guy at the top has potentially killed over thirty people, that is dangerous. He's gathering points fast. We need to catch up before we lose our chances to get a single pellet." Her breathing became even heavier. She was pissed.

"I'll say it again, we have lots of time. Plus, even if one person gathers it all, I'll just take it from them, so don't sweat it." He got up and got closer to Nor. The latter flinched but tightly grabbed her sword. Her eyes didn't avoid him, she kept glaring. "Instead of focusing on things like the pellet, we should focus on three things." He raised his hand. "First, increase the fighting potential of your group. Second, traveling outwards a bit more and discovering what is on this land, plus I want to get to the mountain. Lastly, gathering more animals to expand the farm. I need more variation in my food." His list was for his own benefit. The reason he wanted to help the three increase their combat strength was to learn how to teach. Afterall, Shameless hinted that having a student was going to be important later on. As for traveling, he was just bored and wanted to see more places. Even the variation in foods was out of boredom of the same old taste. He wanted something new.

The competition wasn't something he actually cared for. Even the pellets were of little importance. He could gather them later.

"Why so much? I understand the first one, but the rest are unnecessary." Nor shook her head in disagreement.

"This isn't me asking you guys, but informing. You work with me, and this is what will be done. I will help you guys as well, just stick with this for now. I promise, all of you will pass this with me around." Alem didn't care for fights, but he wasn't scared of one. He knew his skills in combat had reached the peak. If not for people being stronger then him when it came to cultivation being involved, or their speed just naturally being higher then his, then he could beat anything. This was his belief atleast.

Nor being the leader of the group, she called the shots for the other two, so she fell into a deep thought. "Fine."

"Good." Alem nodded his head and suddenly grabbed Eli's bow.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Nor scowled.

"Why are you getting mad? Eli hasn't said anything." Alem looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Eli, your weapon is important, take it back." Nor glared at Alem while speaking.

"It's alright Nor." Eli said awkwardly. She was grateful towards Alem, plus he didn't really have any need to harm them. Even if he wanted to, he would have done it a while ago, so even if he took all of their weapons, Ali trusted him a bit.

"You…" Nor flashed a threatening look to the pale girl.

"Why are getting so worked up? I'm just going to start training you guys right now." Walking towards the door, Alem waved for them to follow. Of course, Eli couldn't tag along just yet.

As Nor and Kir followed them out, Alem picked up a few sticks from the ground while walking.

"Listen, you guys can actually be considered quite good at combat when compared to the average person from where I come from." While he said this, he suddenly threw the sticks one by one towards Nor and Kir.

"What the hell!" Kir quickly dodged one, but was bombarded by the rest. Even Nor only managed to avoid a single stick before being hit by the rest.

"Sadly, your reaction time is absolutely garbage, and trust me. Reaction time is key when it comes to life and death situations." Picking up a few pebbles, he smirked a little. "Again."

"H-hey wait-" Small greys filled their vision before they could finish. This time they were a little more prepared, but not completely. Kir ducked and dodged three before getting hit in the face by two. His skin reddened, while slowly becoming darker.

Nor was better off. She was quicker and was able to dodge almost all of them, except the last pebble, which hit the top of her forehead. "Ouch!"

With a straight face, Alem watched as a bit of red leaked down from her forehead. "Get up, we will do it again."

"No!" Nor got up with red eyes. "You piece of… we aren't ready, and you kept throwing? You even hit us so hard!" Anger clouded her face.

"You piece of shit! I thought you might actually help us, but this is outright bullying!" Kir's head blew as he basically screeched.

"Bullying?" Alem picked up a stick, suddenly put it on the bow string. Pulling it back, he took aim and…

"Hu!" Nor swallowed her saliva as a thin line appeared on her cheek. 'That was just a stick, how did he even cut me?' Slowly, she turned her head and looked back. A single stick, thin and slightly bent, was plunged into the ground.

"Do you know how I was trained?" Alem's eyes turned cold. "I didn't have small pebbles thrown at me, nor thin sticks. I had people thrown at me, animals. Creatures you probably haven't ever seen. I fought groups, individuals, against weapons, poison, with a single arm, no arms, missing limbs, I fought in every possible situation. That was my training." He walked forward and leaned towards Nor and Kir. "This pause you both are getting? This option for training? I didn't get it. It was fight, heal, fight heal, fight heal. I only got healed once I reached a point of death, and ONLY if I killed my last opponent. So don't cry bullying when you have no idea what that is." Lifting his thumb, Alem reached for Nor's forehead and pressed hard.

"Ouch!" Nor's face scrunched up in pain as she looked at Alem's cold eyes.

"Remember, during my training, I killed many like you. Girls, boys, even kids. I'm only nice as I've become bored and hate fights." Sliding his hand towards her sword, Alem pulled it away from her. "You won't need this." He then glared at Kir, the latter quickly giving his sword without question.

'This guy is a freak!' Kir saw the stick being shot. It was in no way easy. Since the stick was thin and not even straight, Alem would need freakish skills to actually hit Nor the way he did.