Shi Lang and Zysha did not waste much time and the big cat led the youngster to a natural pass over the lake. Last time, the satellite scan displayed that all the people went across the lake during the freefall. While the two were searching for someone, the others were also moving into the woods to find out the other people as well.

This was obvious, after all, the rules had changed. Shi Lang did not understand that it was a normal thing for these people here. Over time they all had gone through such impromptu changes a lot. If they did not get any secondary directive later, it will be odd.

Shi Lang was not aware of this but it did not matter much to him. Two creatures moved through the woods and it has been five hours, the sun has completely gone down. Suddenly, Zysha said, “There is someone ahead.”

As soon as he heard this, the guy hid behind a tree and took cover. He asked, “How far?”

“Five hundred meters. A man, burly, moving slowly toward us.” replied the tiger.

Shi Lang asked, “Did he sense our approach?”

Zysha replied, “No he did not. He seemed to be injured.” her tone was calm.

Thinking about this, it could be that some animal attacked this person. Shi Lang peeked his head to the side and used the visor of his mask. The range of the visor was enough to cover five hundred meters. He said, “Zysha, keep an eye on him, and guide me to circumnavigate around him.”

Zysha asked, “What do you mean by circumnavigate?” her tone indicated confusion.

Shi Lang almost did not trip from surprise. He said, “To circumnavigate means for me to get around the target and watch him from behind.”

Zysha asked, “Are you going to kill him from behind?” she wanted to know why would Shi Lang would want to get behind his target.

Shi Lang said, “To observe him.”

Zysha, however, did not find this reason to be sufficient. She asked, “Just to observe, can you not do that from the front?”

The youngster had no time to pay attention to her curiosity. He moved quickly through the woods, thanks to his prior training, his steps did not leave a sound or a mark. In five minutes, he was standing three hundred meter behind his target. Using the visor, he got a clear thermal image in front of him.

The surroundings were displayed in blue and dark colors while the target was moving around in yellow. Shi Lang noticed that as the person was walking, he left a faint trail on the ground. The trail was left from the blood leaking from his wound. At this moment, he recalled what X had told them, ‘You are not allowed to harm each other but if you failed to help each other…’

That said the boy moved quickly forward and turned off the thermal vision. The target turned around quickly holding a long pointy wooden staff. Shi Lang replied, “This is Ace. You are wounded, do you need help?”

The man sighed, he said, “I am Helis, thank you for your aid. Yes, I do need some help.”

Shi Lang nodded and moved forward to support the guy, they walked to a tree. Shi Lang thought in his mind, “Zysha, come over.”

He said, “I have a beast companion with me. You do not have to worry. She will guard the surroundings while I patch you up.”

He put down the sack without caring for Helis’s surprised reaction. He was quick. The tendons were dry already. He had not disposed of all the things, neither all of them were eaten. The tendon of the deer were long enough to act as the bow strings. Helis asked, “What do you intend to do?”

Shi Lang was able to see his situation clearly through his visor and said, “You have hurt your ribs and you are bleeding from the wound. The slash wound needs to be stitched up. I will also need to cauterize your wound. I do not have any anesthetics.”

Helis nodded and said, “It is fine, just go forward with it. I can handle the pain.”

Shi Lang nodded and began to gather some wood, to make a fire. While he was working over, Shi Lang asked, “How did you get the wound?”

Helis sighed and with a groaning voice he said, “Came across two Natives, they attacked together, parried the first guy and pushed back his companion, however, this second guy had a weapon like a barbed whip. That whip landed on my chest and the result is in front of you.”

Shi Lang nodded and went on, “What about the natives?”

Helis shook his head and said, “Dead. They were not the strong ones. They were wounded.” his voice was low. The guy was probably bleeding for a long time.

Suddenly, a twig snapped and attracted helis’s attention. Shi Lang said, “calm down, it is just my partner.”

Helis saw a pair of green eyes in the dark and as they grew closer he found a blue colored tiger slowly walking over. Shi Lang said, “Zysha, stop intimidating him. He is wounded already.”

She turned her gaze from Helis to ShI Lang and said telepathically, “I will not eat him you know, such weak prey does me no good.”

ShI Lang smiled, the fire was up, he place his bone dagger inside the fire and shredded the tendon into a string. After the bone dagger was hot enough, Shi Lang used it to poke a few holes around the wound. Then he slowly pushed the shredded tendon through those holes and stiched up the wounds. The groans escaping Helis were evident but he did not stop.

After ten minutes Shi Lang was done stitching the wounds and used the dagger to cauterize the tissues slightly. He said, “I will go ahead, you should be able to move in a few hours, try to get up to the crown of the tree and rest. Okay?”

Helis nodded and Shi Lang left. Before going, ShI Lang gave him some meat and shared his water. helis was holding a bamboo flask to act like a water bottle. Helis was grateful and told Shi Lang a few tips on how to spot the natives settlements. The area of the natives had all sorts of marks that were easy to loose in the forest.

The youngster and the beast moved through the woods, Shi Lang told Zysha to be attentive pof their movement toward the native camps. The situation as not very hopeful for him as the boy had a bad premonition. He was not wrong to think this way, even if Helis had given him the information that he needed crucially, it did not change the fact that knowledge and experience had a different level altogether.

While Shi Lang was moving through the woods, a lot of things were happening in the world outside.

…

General Edwards, General Knight, and the rest of the council of generals, were holding a meeting with X through digital mediums.

Edwrads said, “The Neomons, have approved of increasing the sivze of the exchange group. They have settled for five students and one teacher. What is your suggestion X?”

X stayed silent for a few minutes and then said after a proper thought. “I will put forward the name of the candidate after they have finished this trial only. I ask for two slots.”

Charlotte Knight spoke up, ‘Why?”

X replied, “To pit the two most talented youths of the card class against each other. They will whet each other to increase their powers.” his voice was calm and subtle.

The generals thought about this and nodded, suddenly another general asked, “Why do you not put in all five, X? After all, the card class is the best youth camp.”

X replied, “With all due respect, not every youngster is capable of the deeds that can have them represent our civilization in front of some aliens. They might be the best, but they are not suitable.”

Edwards nodded and said, “We get your point X. You will have your two slots.”

X nodded and the meeting continued. They were discussing about the rest of the three candidates. Suddenly a quite general spoke up, “I would like to put forward a candidate of the teacher.”

The people were surprised, General Edwards asked, “General Mathiyas, whom do you suggest?”

General Mathiyas was elder to them all, the council respected him as well. The old general said, “Behind enemy lines, we will need a person with the great ability to calculate things. Such a person is now teaching in the Federal Star Academy. I nominate her because she survived the Athena planet massacre with her own skills. After that massacre she fell but recently I have heard that her skills have resurfaced. I think we can give her a chance.”

Charlotte Knight raised her eyebrow and asked, “Who is it?”

Mathiyas spoke up, “My granddaughter, Rosa Blues. Her special ability is extreme computing power.” in a calm manner.

General Edwards nodded and said, “We shall screen her for the posting.”

The meeting continued and on the other hand, Shi Lang had tagged three people.