VI. Cold Air

"H-huh? That name—" Seir said, stuttering with his words and remembering something that may have something to do with Carsel's name, "Carsel– Are you a noble?"

"...That's right, im the second son of the Bloodheir family, and just like you all, i am also been kidnapped here against my will." Carsel replied sternly.

This was somewhat a shocking news to hear, everyone in the building didn't expect to have someone from a noble family to ended up in this place, they thought that someone with such status would've atleast had some sort of protection like a personal guards, if someone like Carsel managed to get kidnapped by these so called Instructors and their organization, then that would mean their strength and skills are much greater than what they've thought before.

'So there's also a noble.. Well if they managed to escape from the castle guards, i guess it wouldn't be strange for them to go after other nobles too..' Calea thought as she felt a strange relief after realizing that there's more people with high-ranking status in here, 'Im sure dad and the knights from the castle will find me, if the worst happened, maybe the knights from Carsel's family will find us first— let's be optimistic.'

That night, Calea and the others spent the rest of their time by either conversing or playing some sort of jokes, since Calea was the only girl in there, she had a hard time going along with the boys topic and ended up feeling a little isolated, there's a couple of the instructor's henchmen waiting outside and making sure that no one escaped or dared to go outside, if someone wants to go to the bathroom, they'll have to be escorted by the cloaked men, it was a rough night.

***

The next morning..

When the sun hasn't even showed half of its body and the forest covered in fogs, cold airs lingers throughout the wooden shack where Calea and her mates sleep through the night, in there, a heavy rain just poured last night when they were sleeping, thankfully they still slept peacefully on the hard wooden floor, it would be a lie to say that it was comfortable, but they didn't have much choice, perhaps it was the only choice.

Calea's mind woke up from her slumber after feeling the freezing cold air around her, her leather cloth didn't cover much of her body, there's a lof of parts that had been torn apart, and the pants that she's wearing only reaches to her knee, it was amazing how she managed to fell asleep in the first place, despite being treated like a princess for her whole life, Calea adapted pretty quickly to her new life.

"Mmhh.." She grunted, her eyes still half open, 'So cold!'

Suddenly, a wet footstep was heard from the outside of the wooden shack, Calea who got startled because of it quickly wakes up and stared at the wooden exit door infront of her.

'Who is that!?' She thought, cautiously hearing each footstep sound.

The footstep was getting louder, and after a few more seconds, it started to step on the creaky stairs that leads to the front door, now Calea was sure that the person who's making this footstep is heading towards this shack, the question is who will it be.

'Is it scythe?..'

Creaakk!

The door was opened, and from the outside, a human figure stood at the shack entrance, it was Scythe, his robust body was enough to convince Scythe that it was him, even though his face was covered by his scarf and cloak.

"Hm— You're already awake, that's not in my prediction.." He said, the stoic voice confirmed his identity, it was indeed Scythe. "...Stand here."

"A- ah.. Understood.." Calea responded anxiously.

Scythe told Calea to stand beside the front door using hand gesture to show her where she should stand still, pretty soon Calea obliged to Scythe's order and walked forward, stopping at the spot where Scythe's finger pointed to and turned around to face the others who were still sleeping.

"Alright, wake up, stand up.. Before my count to three." Scythe said, his 3 fingers stood up, preparing the countdown.

"Huh?..."

Calea who saw it didn't understand what Scythe was trying to do, but she knew that if the countdown reaches Zero, something bad will happen, deep within her heart, she was thankful that she woke up earlier than everyone.

"3...2...1.."

"Huh?.. Who's that?" Said Deon who's in the middle of waking up.

"Hey.. It's noisy, stop counting down.." Orbeth also complained.

One after another, all of the boys in the shack slowly wakes up from their sleep, however at that point, it was already too late.

"0."

THWACK!

THUD!

"KEEUKK..."

Right after the countdown ended, Scythe began kicking everyone who's still laying down, his first target was Deon, and he kicked him in his stomach, sending him flying towards the wooden walls, Scythe made sure that his kick were strong enough to cause damage but not strong enough to break the fragile wooden walls.

THWACK!

THUD!!

"AGH!! WHAT THE—

THWACK!!

THUD!

"A- AHH!! W- WAIT WAIT!!"

Realizing the situation that they're in, everyone who didn't get kicked yet immediately jolted out of their sleep and stand tall on their feet, they were sweating profusely and constantly prayed that they wouldn't get kicked in their guts.

"...Learn to open your eyes before my countdown, next time i wouldn't let you guys off." Scythe said to the people who didn't get kicked.

Seeing that everyone's spirit now more high than ever, Scythe stopped his rampage goes back to the front door, in there he stand right beside Calea and then crossed his arms.

"Learn from this rat, she woke up before my arrival and even stayed cautious, just in case if there's someone else." He said coldly while placing his palm on Calea's head, "Got it?"

Everyone nodded, even those who got kicked and is laying on the ground pitifully.

'I- i was just lucky though..' Calea thought.

"..Prepare yourself, come outside if you're done." Scythe said before walking out from the shack, leaving everyone to their own.

After Scythe left, those who didn't get kicked by him quickly approached the three people who got kicked, those people were Deon, Orbeth, and Endi.

"H- hey, you alright?" Said Zayn to Deon, he grabbed his hand and forces Deon to stand up.

"Urgh.. keukk.."

"...You can't be dying just from this right? Come on." Vedra playfully mocked Orbeth.

"Shut the fuck up, haha.. You fucker, i almost died.." Orbeth replied as he reaches for Vedra's hand.

"Let's go, we don't have time.." Carsel said, he also trying to lend his hand for Endi.

However Endi refused his help and instead tossed Carsel's hand away, "Don't worry, i can stand up for myself, this much is nothing.." He said, struggling to keep the pain away.

As everyone was helping each other, Calea instead stayed still on her place, she only watched them from the distance, and once they have gathered and was about to go outside, that's when she joined them.

"..."

'Hm?.. They're— Staring at me?' Calea thought, seeing everyone making various faces towards her.

It was true, they were staring at Calea, and from their eyes alone, it seems like they're not happy with her. 'W- what's with them.. They're kind of scary..'

Despite the unusual glare, nothing much happened, everyone went outside without a problem and they met Scythe not long after, he was waiting for them under a tree with a lot of wooden scythes on the ground near him.