Evening, the night was fast approaching. The ‘Jungle Stroll’ had begun.

All of the 14 students were confiscated of their weapons and other belongings, and thrown into the cold and dark Shalborn forest.

Adrian walked through the forest for a bit before picking a spot beside a frozen lake and lying down. He closed his eyes, but did not fall asleep.

Night fell as the sun ran away. The shy moon was hiding behind the clouds. The already dark and cold forest became even more so.

But it did not bother Adrian in the least. He had yet to change his position or open his eyes; he kept waiting.

Suddenly, his eyes opened. He lazily rose up without any sense of urgency and smiled at a certain direction.

Six hooded figures came out of nowhere and surrounded him. They did not make a single sound. Any other circler would have been oblivious, but Adrian- a dark circler- could see them clearly as if it were day.

“Greetings, members of the forgotten company.” He bowed.

None returned his greetings from the other side. But Adrian did not mind as he looked towards the faces of all the assailants; all of their eyes were covered by the hoods. But Adrian found who he was looking for.

“You must be Lieutenant Rafs, right? Mind if we sit together and sort things out?” He looked towards the second tallest of the six.

Silent ensued for a few moments but this time- he got an answer.

“I don’t talk to dead men.” The man charged at him with full power; the snow did not inhibit him at all.

The other five held their position, ready to attack anytime. But next scene struck them with surprise and fear. Before they could recover, an evil aura gushed towards them like tidal wave- locking their very soul into place, terrorising them.

*Snap*

The lieutenant’s right punch was stopped. It was not blocked; rather, Adrian snapped his right arm, bending the elbow to an unnatural direction.

His mind was in a mess. He did not even see his target move; and before he knew it, his right arm was broken. Even the pain did not strike him for a few seconds after it happened.

Before he could recover from the shock. The fear that was forming in his mind suddenly turned into despair as an overwhelming aura locked onto him. The source of the aura was none other than the smiling 17 year old in front of him.

Adrian stepped forward and grabbed his other arm. It’s fate was not any different from its symmetric counterpart.

*Snap*

The man wanted to scream but the overpowering aura did not even let him open his mouth. He could only keep grunting from the excessive pain.

Adrian pushed him to the ground. The hood slid away, exposing the man’s horrified face. Adrian looked at his eyes and smiled.

Just when he thought it was over, the man saw Adrian place one of his knees on his thigh. He panicked knowing what the beast was about to do.

*Snap*

Adrian broke his right leg by bending his knee to the ‘opposite’ direction.

*Snap*

The left leg followed.

The poor man’s face became wet with the tears and snot the pain caused.

But the monster had yet to let go of his smile. The man wanted nothing but death; the pain was excruciating.

“I will fulfil your last wish.” Adrian spoke as he held the man by the collar. He heaved the lieutenant up in the air- to an altitude of about a dozen meters. Adrian had placed one of his knees out.

*Crack*

The ‘broken’ lieutenant fell on Adrian’s knee on his back. His backbone broke into two; his last breath seemed as if it were a sigh of relief.

“Perfect! Not a single drop of blood was spilled.” Adrian praised himself.

He then looked towards the other five- four on the ground and the other on top of a tree. He now knew everything about them even though their eyes were still covered.

He lazily walked towards the supposedly most beautiful one of the team- a dual dagger using assassin.

Once in front of her, he slowly removed the hood- revealing a terrified yet beautiful face. Her hands were holding the two daggers. But they were useless as her arms were still paralysed.

He held one of them and brought it up. He gently caressed it.

But his cold hands did not soothe her at all. If anything, it sent chills down her spine. But his next action almost stopped her heart.

*Sphhhlt*

He drove the dagger into his own shoulder- her hand holding the hilt, his hand holding hers. The smile on his face did not twitch a bit. Though her hand was bloodied, his hand was completely clean. The irony!

Adrian brought his mouth close to her neck. She almost forgot how to breath. He gave the side of her neck an erotic lick. She closed her eyes and gritted her teeth; that lick did anything but turning her on.

“How rude? Making a disgusted face during foreplay. You need to be punished.” She heard his cold voice.

Before she could process his statement, a stinging pain in her neck caused her eyes to open. He was biting her neck.

Adrian took his time. His teeth dug into her neck very slowly- millimetre by millimetre, the blood seeping out just as slowly. Neither could she resist, nor could she run away. Her cheeks were moist, teeth almost crushed due to her intense grit. Her whole body was trembling from the pain which was getting more serious every second.

Once all of the teeth were deep into her body, he heaved them out- tearing her flesh and a bit of her throat out. She slumped to the ground. Finally, it was over. She bled to death as her hot crimson blood merged with the cold white snow.

He spat out the flesh. As for the remaining blood? He gulped.

He then looked towards the other four, licking his bloody lips.

The previous scene had already made them lose their wits. There was no more hope. Now the only thing they hoped for was a quick death; that was especially the case for the other female member of the team who had witnessed the difference between the death of her male lieutenant and female friend.

Adrian suddenly looked back and clicked his tongue.

He picked up the other dagger and threw it- targeting the heart of the one on the tree. He then rushed towards the male caster, stealing his sword and stabbing him. Wasting no time, he pulled the sword and charged towards the other two who were standing side by side. In no time, he killed the four.

All of them died with a surprised face. Though they were praying for a quick death, they never expected that to be this quick.

Adrian again turned back and opened his arms. “Long time no see, sis.”

A hooded figure walked out of the dark. She scanned the whole scene before removing the hood. The revealed alluring face belonged to none other than his guardian, Rosalyn Brigets.

She looked at his lips and chin which had yet to be cleaned of the blood after looking at the blood corpse of the woman. “Since when did you pick this new fetish?”

“You better be careful. Remember what I said before? That you are the tastiest.” He licked his lips.

She shuddered and took a step back.

“I am joking. Come on. I need your help.” He beckoned her.

“First, clean your mouth.” She followed him.

Adrian took a bit of clear snow and wiped his mouth. He was walking towards the lieutenant whose body was twisted in a comical manner. Rosalyn was right behind him.

“What were their levels?”

“Relax, all of them were weaker than you.”

“You don’t have to tell that twice. What were their levels?”

Adrian just smiled in response.

“Forget it. What is YOUR level? You took Darkness as your attribute, right? You betrayed master and me.” Her tone and face was filled with sorrow.

“Keep this up and I will make sure that you are unable to walk tomorrow.”

She stopped and clenched her thighs.

They reached the leader’s broken body. He pulled it up and positioned it on his shoulders. He again began to walk; but this time, he was carrying a body clear of any blood, his destination- the frozen body of water. His guardian followed close behind, curious of his motives.

The icy lake was massive. They have walked for almost half an hour straight and had yet to find the other end. Once he believed they were deep into the centre of the lake, Adrian finally broke the silence.

“Make a hole here.” He pointed downwards.

“The ice here is as solid as rock and it is more than a metre deep. How can I-“

“Haven’t I made it clear before? Either you dig here or I will dig so deep into you that you will be on bed for a week.”

“Fine, fine. I was thinking of surprising you, and you are ruining the fun.”

‘Lady, you are the one who ruined the fun tonight.’

Rosalyn stepped forward and brought forth a hand. An intricate white coloured circle formed in front of her palm. The circle began to rotate, and soon enough it was rotating at a hypersonic speed, forming a windy drill.

She pushed the drill into the ice. No matter how strong the ice was, it could only give way to the drill.

Adrian did not expect any less from the most penetrative spell of the continent.

“Good.” He dropped the body into the cold trench.

*Splash*

“Fill it up.”

“Understood.” She prepared another spell. A large tornado formed on the hole pushing cold air into it, freezing it again.

“Good. Let’s go back.”

“Back? Why?” She squinted.

“I forgot something.”