Back To The Training Zone III

"Achoo!" Luke sneezed the moment they arrived at the training zone.

He quickly turned to Obed. "Don't speak yet. No matter what you do, don't speak." He warned Obed.

"Why shouldn't… Blergh…" Obed emptied his belly contents on the floor.

Luke burst into laughter. "I was kind enough to warn you but you wouldn't listen. Don't worry, it was the same for me and a lot of other people on your first time too."

Luke looked at the others around him. Many puking here and there, some unconscious, and others, just like him were fine. He felt victorious to be standing.

"Ugh. I can taste the vomit in my mouth." Luke pulled out a candy piece from his pocket, opened it, and put it in his mouth.

"No wonder you had lots of those." Obed now understood why Luke had been filling his bag with candy.

Luke opened his bag and took out a bunch of candy. He began distributing to those that had vomited. They were grateful but the others who hadn't puked looked at him strangely.

He finished his distribution and cake back to meet Obed. "Here's yours." He handed him candy.

"Thank you." Obed opened it up and shoved it into his mouth. "Now, back to our goal. Where the hell is this?"

Luke had been busy so he didn't look at his surrounding. Now that he was looking around, the place seemed familiar.

He looked further into the distance and spotted a tent far away.

"We're quite close to one of the guards' zone." Luke answered.

"That is correct." A man approached them. Luke and some others had sensed him coming but said nothing.

The others were first overwhelmed by fear and then surprise. It was a normal thing to be scared in a place like this where monsters could show up the next second, but when they saw the person that arrived, they were at rest.

"It is nice to meet you all. We'll be heading to the guards' safe zone not too far away so please gather around and be prepared." The guard advised the group.

They began to gather together except for Luke and Obed.

'It just had to be him.' Luke cursed his luck.

"I see you came back." The guard chuckled.

"I see you're still alive." Luke smiled back. He wasn't going to back down in front of this particular guard.

The guard turned to Obed. "Sorry for the late introduction, I'm captain Greyhn. One of the highest authorities in this zone." He turned back to Luke. "I assume he's here with you."

"That is correct. He's my brother." Luke nodded.

Greyhn giggled. "Weren't you with the lady of the Daveon family last time?"

"I'm pretty sure you knew our relationship. By the way, what did the spy report after we left?" Luke asked.

Greyhn's face changed but he quickly gained composure. "I won't deny it. You're an odd one. Even finding out the spy I set up. I'll be upfront with you then. Where's your ID?"

"I don't have one. What are you going to do? Arrest me?" Luke scoffed at his question. Greyhn wouldn't be able to. Obed just stood still, watching Luke and the captain exchange words.

Greyhn rubbed his chin as he looked at Luke. "I have to admit. You're quite a brave one, but then it's true. By myself, I cannot restrain you. I could've always reported you and the lady from the Daveon family last time but I didn't. Oh along with your sidekick."

"You have a sidekick?" Obed whispered.

"No. Ignore him." Luke answered back.

"Anyways, I don't see a reason why I should report you. Rather, I have a favor to ask of you in exchange for keeping your secret." Greyhn smiled.

'He could probably do it if it's him.' Captain Greyhn thought.

"Is this blackmail or what?" Luke raised an eyebrow.

The squad leader shook his head. "No, it's not. Let's just say it's a mutual relationship. It's just one favor in exchange for keeping a secret that could lead to heavy fine, imprisonment, or even the death penalty."

Luke sighed. "Fine. What is this request of yours?"

"Now, don't be in a rush. We have to return to camp first." Greyhn replied and walked away.

"Alright everyone, we'll be heading to camp now." He called the attention of everyone.

They all rose from the ground and followed behind him while he led them back to camp on his horse.

"What's the relationship between you both? What were you even doing with a lady from a well-known family? And now you have a sidekick?" Obed dropped question after question before Luke could even process an answer to the previous one.

Luke thought for a few seconds before he began answering questions Obed asked. "First, there's no such thing as a relationship between me and him. He put a spy on me because he felt that I was hiding something, which I was."

"Second, well… I was unfortunate enough to run into her and ended up saving her and she went ahead to tag along."

"What do you mean by unfortunate? That's a blessing." Obed retorted.

"Well, I ended up getting a family crest or so," Luke nodded. "But that's by the way."

"Lastly, I do not have a sidekick. Remember Kyne, the one I said was stuck with me from the first day. I couldn't be the only one defending our safe zone so I… you know, trained him and we ended up going everywhere together." Luke scratched the back of his arm at his last words.

"And you didn't even tell me about these parts when you were narrating your story." Obed grunted.

"I see." Luke nodded.

"You can't even apologize." Obed felt like hitting Luke with a hammer.

"We're here." Captain Greyhn announced and everyone sighed in relief.

"Excuse me, captain," Luke called out to Greyhn.

"You all should go in," Greyhn ordered the rest while he came down from his horse. He handed the leash to another guard and walked toward Luke.

"Our deal can wait till we return right? Then how many days is the duration for this training?" Luke asked.

"Yes, it can wait. Also, it's gonna be a day longer than the last time you came." Greyhn replied.

"Fine, then we'll be back in nine days or possibly longer." Luke waved at Greyhn and turned to leave.

"Then stay safe. I can't have you die before you fulfill my request." Greyhn smiled and waved back as he walked into the camp.

"Where the hell are we going?" Obed asked. Luke was already starting to increase their pace.

"To our safe zone. Now, let's hurry or it'll take forever." Luke started running and Obed had no choice but to follow behind.

*****

Kyne's team appeared in the training zone, a different location from where Luke's team had been teleported.

"Welcome to the East Camp." A guard greeted them the instant they appeared.

"Please don't speak right now." Kyne tried to advise them but they were all stubborn so they did and ended up vomiting like the others.

Kyne opened a candy and chewed on it.

"I tried to warn you, but you wouldn't listen." He took out a map and observed for a while. This is the East Camp so we have to go west to get there."

Yord was the first to return to normal. "We're leaving? Don't you think he's here?"

"Yes we're leaving and no, the portal teleports to four locations randomly. Our chances of seeing him here are one out of four. Pretty big, right? But our chances of meeting him where we're heading should be three out of four." Kyne answered Yord's questions.

He handed candy to all of them. "Now then, shall we head to our safe zone?"

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This chapter is solely dedicated to Troy_Goode...

Thank you so much for reading every chapter I publish.